Dead Rising: The Haven City Outbreak
by Alex Sorrow
Summary: Set two years after the Fortune City Incident, Haven City is celebrating its annual summer festival when an outbreak begins. Witness the events from multiple perspectives as Kirk Reid tries to lead his girlfriend to safety and Lindsey Connor attempts to escape the city with her friends. Contains spoilers for all games (except maybe DR4).
1. Patient Zero

**1**

 **Patient Zero**

Lucas Porter broke into a sweat as he stumbled down the sidewalk. The sound of blood pounding in his ears was overwhelmed by the sound of the excitement around him as people pushed past. One guy bumped into him, nearly knocking the thin man over, and the guy spared a quick "sorry!" as he continued on his way without a second thought. Lucas groaned to himself, continuing past a group of booths where the people were calling out to passersby, trying to get them to buy something from their tables.

The summer festival in Haven City was always a busy time, and if there was one thing that Lucas hated, it was crowds. In fact, after being bitten in Fortune City, he had spent the last festival holed up in his apartment, taking his Zombrex and trying to rest quietly. He had been expecting to do the same thing this year as well, but instead he'd been forced to work a shift at the convenience store and then had made a run to the pharmacy just to make sure that he had enough spare containers of Zombrex at home to last until the end of the festival. He had taken his entire food budget for the week just to afford the damn thing, but those bastards at Phenotrans couldn't be bothered to maintain stock and the pharmacy was empty. The sheer indignity of it all, the mere thought that he was giving away every penny he earned to the same company that was rumored to be responsible for his infection made his blood boil. Now he was likely to turn soon unless he could get home. If the pharmacy didn't stock up soon, what was he supposed to do? Drive out into the wilderness and turn where nobody would be hurt? Shoot himself, or somebody else would? Was it still suicide, or was he doing a public service?

There was no time to think about the sad state of his life. He had less than an hour, and he was still a few blocks from his apartment building. His legs ached from walking quickly, and he was bitter when he looked around at the smiling faces around him, people who had come from all over to enjoy the festival. To think, if he just stood here until 11AM, they would all be in danger… but of course, he would never do that to anybody. This curse was something that he wouldn't wish on his worst enemy.

He pressed onward, jumping at the sound of a siren being turned on behind him. The noise caused a sharp pain to shoot through his head, and he looked over his shoulder at the sight of some officers riding in a glorified golf cart down the road toward him. They tore past, stopping up the road where a man was lying on his back on the sidewalk with his wife sitting beside him, screaming instead of doing anything useful. It was a hot day, Lucas thought, and the dumb fucker had probably forgotten to drink enough water. Shaking his head, Lucas continued on down the street. Time was running out, and the cops were just distracting him. Without realizing it, he began to scratch at his arms. After two years, he could still feel the virus inside of him, waking up as the time approached. He had to get home. He needed Zombrex _now_.

He broke into a jog, sweat trailing down his cheeks and stinging his eyes now. He was a very unathletic person; outside of work, he rarely left his apartment, especially since C.U.R.E. meetings started to dwindle. The woman next door, an insufferable lady named Joanne who never stopped talking, often remarked loudly about how he should come out with her for drinks. The benefit of the festival, he assumed, was that she was probably out instead of inside bothering him.

The street was packed, but nobody paid him any attention as he hurried down the sidewalk, finally reaching his apartment building just in time and casting a glance behind him as he shuffled inside. His heart was pounding as he charged up the stairs, panting heavily on his climb to the second floor. When he got to his door, he all but collapsed against it, fumbling for his keys. The next door opened just as he got inside, and he slammed the door behind him as footsteps followed him down the hall.

Lucas rushed through his messy apartment, kicking dirty shirts and fast food bags out of the way as he reached the closet, where a footlocker inside held his entire Zombrex stash. Licking his lips, he got down to his knees and slipped his fingers underneath the lid, lifting it open.

There was a familiar obnoxious knock on the door, and Joanne's voice echoed from the other side, "Lucas, is that you? Were you already at the festival?"

"Not right now, Joanne!" he snapped, his shaking hands grasping the lid, a trickle of sweat falling down just past his eye as he looked down in horror at the empty chest. Nothing? But… there had been enough boxes to last him a few more days, he was sure of it. "What the… _fuck!_ _FUCK!_ "

"What's wrong, Lucas?" she asked, concerned.

"Nothing!" he hollered. _When did she stop calling me Mr. Porter? And when did I start allowing it?_ He almost laughed at the idea that his final thoughts were about Joanne as he pushed the footlocker out of the way and leaned forward, looking into the closet, seeing if they had simply fallen out somehow. He felt tired, suddenly. The infection was awakening. It was now or never. He groped around, finding nothing and praying to God that if he didn't die, he would listen to whatever stupid thing that irritating woman wanted-

"You won't find anything in there."

Lucas turned so suddenly at the voice that he nearly screamed. A man in a black suit with his hair slicked back, a metal briefcase in his hand, smiled politely at him as he got up from where he'd been sitting. The man looked rich, his features maybe even handsome, but his dark eyes were filled with a cold detachment. Something about it made Lucas suddenly very afraid.

"Who… who are you?" Lucas murmured dizzily. "Where… what have you done…?"

"What have I done with your Zombrex?" the man finished politely, straightening his tie with his free hand as he knelt down, opening the briefcase as casually as if he were at a business meeting with a man who wasn't dying in front of him. "Simple. We've reclaimed it, as you won't be needing it."

"What are you… talking about…?"

"Lucas Porter," the man said, his tone consistently mildly pleasant, with an underlying boredom. He spoke almost unnaturally clearly, measuring every word perfectly. "Infected in the Fortune City Incident, you were registered as a member of C.U.R.E. and participated in the protests afterward, calling for an investigation into Phenotrans based on what men like Frank West say but cannot prove," the man pulled a syringe from his briefcase, containing some glowing green liquid with small white blobs floating around inside. With a pang of horror, Lucas saw that the blobs were pulsating. "You, Mr. Porter, were detained after getting into a fight with one of our security guards. We graciously agreed not to press charges to get some public support after that whole debacle, but Mr. Porter… well, we haven't forgotten you. We got your records from C.U.R.E.'s database, not that they'll notice. We've been growing inside of them for some time now."

"Lucas, what's going on?!" Joanne called from outside, banging her fist against the door. Each knock was like a gong going off in his head. "Are you alright?!"

Lucas couldn't respond; his head was swimming and everything felt blurred and far away. His eyesight was fogged with dark shapes, and he felt his grip on consciousness slipping away as the man tapped the syringe, getting ready to inject him once he turned.

The last thing that Lucas Porter heard was Johanne knocking on the door, "Lucas, are you okay in there? What's happening?"

Lucas closed his eyes, _She doesn't know_ , he realized, _I never told anybody here that I was infected… I'm sorry, Johanne, you don't deserve this…_

"Don't worry, Mr. Porter," the man whispered. "You're going to be the start of quite the operation here in Haven City."

With that, Lucas Porter faded away, going limp as the virus took over. His body went rigid, and his mouth fell open in a low moan. As the first zombie opened his eyes, the man forced the syringe down into his neck, lifting up his hand to push the zombie's head away as he pressed the serum into the zombie's body. The zombie jerked away, crying out like an animal in pain as its body began to distort in horrific ways as the Queen larvae was introduced to the host.

While this terrifying transformation was underway, the man slipped the serum back into his briefcase and fastened it closed, standing up and running a hand along his suit, smoothening it as he walked away, opening the door into the hallway where Johanne jumped backwards in surprise at the sight of the stranger as he cooly brushed past her, barely acknowledging her.

"Your friend is feeling ill," he said, walking down the hallway. "You should go and check on him."

"Who are you?" Johanne yelped. "What have you done?!"

The man gave her no response, and she looked back into the room where a low moaning sound echoed out. Worried that Lucas had hurt himself, Joanne hesitated before hurrying inside. She found him, collapsed on the ground struggling to get up, and rushed to his aid, putting her fat arms around him and pulling him up.

"Lucas! What-" she was cut off at the sight of his pale, bulbous skin, glassy red eyes, and open, hungry mouth, and began to scream as he lunged.


	2. The Outbreak (Kirk)

**2**

 **The Outbreak**

Haven City was a sunny, beachside city with sandy shores that stretched along the vast expanse of water and a lively downtown area filled with shops and excitement. The streets today were blocked off from traffic, but filled with people, both local and those who had come for the summer festival. It was something celebrating the town, but Kirk Reid was unfamiliar with the area and completely at a loss. His dark brown hair was combed to one side, and he hadn't been anticipating the heat when he'd put on his favorite black leather jacket that morning. His girlfriend, Rose Matthews, tugged eagerly at his hand as the two walked through the midsummer heat and the crowds of people.

The couple lived in Marwind Heights, but had taken the week to vacation in Haven City, where Rose had grown up before her family moved. They had arrived in the city the previous day after a long drive, but spent most of it at the hotel. Today, with the festival in full swing, Rose had dragged Kirk out into the streets, and although the town's merriment was something to behold, the sight of his girlfriend's smile was far more treasured.

Kirk had grown up in the Hollows, a rather unsavory district of Marwind Heights, the kind of place where people had to watch their backs because nobody else would be bothered to do it for them. Here, in such a prosperous city, it was kind of bewildering that nobody seemed worried about any of that. It wasn't a place that he belonged, but if Rose wanted him here, so be it. He would watch over her as best as he could.

She looked back at him, looking angelic in the sunlight with her strawberry blonde hair and white tank-top when she flashed him a smile, "Do you want to get something to eat, or look around a bit more?"

"I'm not really hungry yet," he answered, "and I'd kinda like to see more of the city first."

"Are you liking it?" Rose asked eagerly.

Kirk chuckled, "I like the beach… and yeah, this whole place seems really nice. You picked a good vacation spot."

"I spent all my time downtown when I was younger," Rose reminisced fondly. "Sometimes we'd go to the beach. Everyone here is super nice."

The two moved past other groups of people on the sidewalk, even though they could have easily walked in the street, as it had been barricaded off from traffic for the festival. As they continued down the street, Kirk glanced through the windows of the small stores, seeing mostly stuff for older people. How did small places like these stay open, he wondered.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a siren, quickly growing louder as a police officer in a police 4x4 cart drove down the street, frantically honking his horn to get people to move. As Kirk and Rose watched, stunned, the officer nearly ran over a kid who was slow to move, barely missing him as he turned and skidded to a stop next to a police barricade. Kirk tensed up, unknowingly tightening his grip on Rose's hand as he began trying to walk away, only to feel her pulling him back, standing in place.

"We should go," Kirk said quietly as the officer hopped out of the vehicle and hurried to push the small wooden barriers out of the way just as two police cruisers and an SUV roared around a corner and sped toward the now open street.

"I want to see what's going on," Rose replied, squeezing his hand in response as people stopped walking, looking over in confusion at what was going on. "Aren't you curious?"

It wasn't that Kirk wasn't interested in finding out what the officers were in a frenzy about, but after some of the irresponsible activities that he'd done when he was young, he was used to being on the other side of the law. He was a changed man now, and fortunately the judge had been lenient with him, but the instinct to get away from flashing lights and sirens still gnawed at him. Still, he tried to repress it as the police squad drove through the street, blaring their sirens to alert people to get out of the way.

Rose tugged at his hand, urging him to follow her as the police cars turned around a corner and disappeared from view. Meanwhile, the officer in the cart began replacing the barricades, pulling a radio from his belt and saying something that Kirk couldn't hear with the noise from the onlookers whispering amongst each other. Sighing a bit, Kirk allowed himself to be pulled by his girlfriend in the direction that the police had gone.

They weren't the only ones tailing the officers. A few groups of excitement chasers followed after them as well, and Rose seemed to be following the direction that they were drifting in as Kirk tried listening to the whispers around them.

"Think they found, like, a dead body or something?" one guy leaning against the side of a shop asked his friend beside him as they passed.

"Something serious is happening if they're bringing that much manpower," somebody nearby remarked as Rose pulled him around another corner, where one cruiser had stopped in the middle of the road as a makeshift barricade. One officer had gotten out, and he seemed to be trying to usher people away, waving his arms, but the anxious expression on his face was evident to Kirk.

"What do you think is happening?" Rose inquired, coming to a stop at the back of a group of people who were gathering around to see what the officer was trying to keep them away from.

Kirk thought for a moment and then moved forward, pulling her by the hand toward the police officer, edging along the crowd, "Let's find out."

As they drew nearer, the officer's radio crackled to life. He seemed startled, looking away from the crowd as he fumbled to pull it from his belt. Now that he'd gotten closer, Kirk could see that this was a young man, maybe not even much older than himself, and he was so nervous that the hand holding the radio was shaking.

" _Officer Stanton, please move to high priority channel, over."_

"Uh, 10-4!" the officer said, adjusting the settings on his radio until through the static came another station, this one alive with far more activity. He kept his hand up, pushing away in the crowd's direction, but turned his head away, as though thinking that it would make it more difficult to hear the radio.

" _-on scene, no sign of infected, over._ "

" _Follow Boykin Protocol, over._ "

" _Understood- wait… yeah, I see them! They're all over the street!_ "

" _Status! Are there Queens? Do we need to alert the ZDC to send in a team?_ "

" _They're all over the place! Closing in! I can't- Aaahhh!_ "

Kirk jumped and Rose screamed, along with quite a few people in the crowd as the first few shots rang out. _Gunfire!_ Kirk thought wildly, practically yanking Rose off her feet as he instinctively got them out of harm's way, but bullets weren't what that they had to fear.

The officer broke into a sweat as the radio crackled to life, with more bullets echoing in the background and sounding closer, " _Dispatch, please respond! Requesting immediate backup, over!_ "

" _Are they spreading out?! Is the situation contained?!_ "

" _Negative! Negative! Backup required! Begin civilian evac!_ "

The officer slipped the radio back onto his belt as the voices continued to grow more and more panicked and distressed. He held up both hands to his mouth, and hollered, " _Everybody please clear the area! This is an emergency! I repeat, please clear the streets! Emergency!_ "

Kirk stood still, feeling his grip tighten on Rose's hand. That stuff on the radio… ZDC, infected… surely it couldn't mean…

"Is there a zombie outbreak going on right now?!" a man demanded, his voice cracking fearfully.

"I-I… I can't say-!" the officer tried to explain, to keep everybody calm, but just the words "zombie outbreak" caused the crowd to panic, and some people to start pushing their way away from the scene while others in the mob tried to push forward to see for themselves. The officer was at a loss, until a sudden shout came through the radio.

" _10-33! Officer down!_ _I repeat, officer down!_ "

"Oh god! Oh my god!" the officer shrieked, drawing his gun from its holster and turning around, aiming it down the street as the gunfire grew closer, and a few officers hurried around the corner, firing off shots when they could behind them, but it was no use. As the first zombie came around the corner, a few bloodcurdling screams from the onlookers sliced through the air and pandemonium broke out as more of them followed.

"Rose! _Run!_ " Kirk yelled, pulling his girlfriend away from the barricade as the officer began firing off shots, but there was no chance. The last look that Kirk got of him was a quick glance over his shoulder as they ran, enough to see the zombies swarming around him, hopelessly outmatching the cop. A rather fat lady knocked Rose to the side as they collided, the woman not even stopping to apologize as she hurried away while Rose struggled to keep her balance. Kirk stopped in his tracks, helping her to catch herself before she fell, which ended up being their saving grace. As Kirk held her hand and began moving again, a zombie emerged from an alleyway up ahead and wrapped his arms around the fat lady, who shrieked and fell over to the ground as the zombie bit at her throat, pulling away a large strip of flesh as the woman gurgled. Had they gone any further ahead, that might have been him. Or worse, Rose.

Kirk took note of the gruesome reminder to watch his surroundings as he pulled his girlfriend through the disaster area as more zombies followed, filling the streets and rapidly spreading out, biting, creating more. Kirk now understood how the outbreaks spread so quickly, but if they couldn't get out of Haven City soon, the military would quarantine the area with them inside. That could not happen.

He doubled his resolve, guiding Rose to safety around the zombies. One snarled and lunged at them, but he knocked it aside with a swift kick. Another one moved in, which Rose pushed away as she followed him through the carnage. People were screaming, and the street was in such an uproar that it was getting difficult to tell who was a zombie and who wasn't. People were running in all directions, some of them running toward the zombies by mistake. Something large, like a fly or a bee, buzzed past Kirk's face, and with a quick whip with his hand, he knocked it away, smiling in satisfaction as he connected and knocked it away.

At last, they reached the end of the street, and Kirk held her hand as they ran, avoiding the zombies and carnage unfolding. The Haven City Outbreak had begun.


	3. End of Shift (Lindsey)

**3**

 **End of Shift**

Lindsey Connor sighed as she wiped off the counter with a rag soaked in warm, soapy water. The young woman's long brown hair was tied back beneath her black Colombian Roastmasters hat, and she took a moment to wipe off her black and white striped apron. Underneath, she wore a black t-shirt that also bore the coffee shop's name, and a pair of jeans. It was the standard work uniform, and yet it felt like she was the only one working. Lindsey cast a resentful glance to Sara, who was standing at the front counter with her back to Lindsey, staring out the window. Ditzy and lost in her own thoughts, as usual. Somewhere in the back, Justin was probably stocking around some heavy boxes to keep busy. After the morning rush had faded, the store had grown surprisingly slow for the festival. There was nobody inside except for the three of them on duty today.

It made sense, she supposed. Once everyone had their coffee, what else was there to do but go and enjoy the festival? Lindsey could see people walking around outside, but she didn't really pay much attention to it. The morning rush had left the coffee machines in disarray, with drops of coffee creamer splashed around and some paper cups strewn around the floor, probably because Sara was being clumsy again. It wasn't fair that she had to be the only one cleaning, but that was the story of her life, wasn't it, just one long series of "it isn't fair" since she'd moved back to Haven City after her engagement didn't work out. A lot of things didn't work out, really. Her relationship, her friendships, her internship, her collegeship. Just one big pattern of failure. So far, the only thing that had worked out was this shitty barista job, and that was probably the most depressing part of it all.

"Hey," Lindsey called to Sara once she'd insulted herself enough. "If you want, you could go wipe off the tables, or sweep."

Sara didn't acknowledge her, and then as if snapping out of a trance, the blonde turned back to face Lindsey, "Hm? What did you say?"

 _Christ_. "I asked if you could go wipe off the tables in the lobby. We haven't been busy in a while, but it's still a mess out there."

"Sorry," Sara said, turning her attention back to the window, "but I think that something is going on outside. Look."

"Sara, we need to be working," Lindsey complained as she bitterly set the rag down on the counter and stormed over to the front with Sara. "What if Pam makes a surprise visit to see how we're doing?"

"But look!" Sara pointed out the window, and Lindsey reluctantly followed her finger outside. Sure enough, there were some people running down the street, all of them going in the same direction like they were fleeing something.

Lindsey narrowed her eyes, leaning over the counter, now intrigued, "Huh… that _is_ kinda weird. What are they doing…?"

"Hey!" Justin said from the back of the kitchen, struggling with two boxes of coffee beans. "Could one of you help me with these?"

"No idea. Everyone just started running," Sara gestured as a man limped past the window, "but sometimes there will be a guy who looks… weird. Like that."

"Guys?!" Justin whined.

Lindsey couldn't explain it, but there was suddenly a dark feeling of dread deep in her stomach. Something wasn't right. It felt like her instincts were screaming that they were in danger, but what that danger _was_ , she had no idea.

"Stay here," Lindsey ordered. Her tone commanded a certain authority, as she had been working here the longest of the two of them, but eight months really wasn't anything to be proud of. Sara nodded, but she didn't look like she really wanted to investigate anyway. Justin gave up and set the boxes down himself, finding a place for them in the back as Lindsey walked out from behind the counter and moved through the lobby to the front door. From the other side of the glass, she could faintly hear somebody screaming. She put her hands on the door, ready to open it, when a man suddenly slammed his body against the door. Lindsey let out a shriek as she stumbled back, away from the man as he banged his head on the glass, and fell onto her behind. His eyes were glowing red, unfocused, devoid of any emotion besides hunger, but once Lindsey recovered from her shock and took a closer look, she gasped when she saw the blood staining his shirt. The wound was visible; a large gouge was taken out of the man's neck. His skin was rapidly turning pale, almost gray. Lindsey was horrified, and as her mind raced back to being a little girl watching the news on what happened in Willamette and seeing the pictures that Frank West took and released to the public, the pictures that had given her nightmares for years...

" _Zombie!_ " she shrieked again, scrambling to get to her feet. "It's a zombie! Oh God, all of those running people, there must be an outbreak going on!"

"What?!" Sara cried as Justin raced to join them at the counter, staring breathlessly at the the zombie aggressively slamming itself against the window.

"Lindsey, get away from it!" Justin shouted as Lindsey, in her haste, knocked into the side of a table and hurried away from the door, not realizing that unless the zombie was smart enough to pull on the door, it wasn't going to open. Then again, he looked freshly infected; some part of him might still have been aware.

There was a loud _crash_ as the zombie slammed his face against the door, and this time the glass shattered. His nose was broken, and the glow in his eyes wavered, but Lindsey screamed as he climbed through the broken hole, sending shards of broken glass crackling to the floor as he tumbled inside, flopping over almost comically and then charging at her.

" _Lindsey!_ " Sara shrieked as Lindsey looked around wildly, until she noticed the table she'd bumped into and grabbed the chair sitting crookedly underneath it. The zombie opened its mouth in a snarl just as she swung, and the chair whipped against him with a satisfying _crack_. Unfortunately, she had thrown it with too much strength, and as the zombie was knocked aside, the chair flew from her hands and clattered into another table. The zombie growled at her as it recovered from being struck, and Lindsey whirled around and sprinted for the counter, practically diving over it as her two coworkers jumped aside, letting her fall across the top and slide onto the floor. The zombie followed, slamming into the counter as she climbed to her feet, and Sara screamed as Justin tried to put himself between her and the zombie. His hands cut through the air like claws trying to grab his prey, and Lindsey shuffled away, backing into the counter in front of the coffeemaker. With a quick realization, she grabbed the machine and lifted it up, yanking the cord from the wall as she lunged forward. The zombie was trying to crawl over the counter to the fresh meat, and she brought down the coffeemaker on his head. The pot inside was jostled loose and fell out, flying through the air and breaking apart when it hit the floor, but none of them noticed as the zombie's skull was caved in by the force of the blow. It went limp, but its hand shakily continued reaching out.

"Hyaaaaaah!" Lindsey could hear herself yelling as she lifted the coffeemaker and brought it down on him again, this time pinning his head to the counter and squeezing it like a balloon, and when it popped, blood shot everywhere, pooling around him as the zombie stopped moving, finally dead for real.

She panted, the adrenaline still coursing through her veins as she stepped back on wobbly knees, looking at her two awestruck coworkers. Sara pressed herself against the wall, watching the zombie as though it would start moving again.

"Oh fuck… oh man, oh _fuck_ …" Justin whispered, gripping the sides of his head as the reality of the situation finally began to set in. There was an outbreak in Haven City. Lindsey knew exactly what happened to Las Vegas and Fortune City. Would they really _firebomb_ this place? How big was the outbreak? Oh god… if the Willamette Act was in effect, they had to get out of the quarantine area as soon as possible. Staying put here was not an option, especially with the front door broken.

"What are we going to do?!" Sara wailed, her eyes welling up with tears.

"First of all, we're going to stay calm!" Lindsey snapped. "I don't want us to panic and make things worse! Second, we need to think of a plan, we need to get away from the infected zone."

"How bad do you think that things are?" Justin asked with a cautious glance at the windows where the number of running people or zombies was starting to dwindle. Without taking his eyes off it, he knelt down, hiding behind the counter, and gestured for them to do so as well. Lindsey and Sara obliged, getting down. "I mean, where are we even supposed to go? Maybe, maybe we could just hole up here."

"We can't," Lindsey shook her head. "The door is broken. Zombies can come through if they hear us, or some survivors might try to rob the place and hurt us if they find us. We need to get out of the city, or at least to a safe house."

"You're supposed to go to a police station or something like that," Justin noted, "but I heard that it's better to hunker down with other survivors in a secure location."

"This place isn't secure," Lindsey said, peeking over the top of the counter. "Out the back door. Let's see if we can find another group. Stick together and decide what to do next, you know?"

"What about the zombies?" Sara whispered fearfully. "You saw that one that broke in here! They'll _kill_ us!"

"We're faster than they are," Lindsey replied. "If we stay close, and stay _away_ from them, we should be fine. We could take cover in another store if we have to." There was a loud moaning sound from the broken window, and the three of them fell silent, waiting for the sound of shuffling feet to pass. "The back door. Come on."

Still crouching, Lindsey led the way toward the back of the shop, holding up her apron so she wouldn't trip over it. None of them made any noise as they passed through the back area, around the boxes that Justin had been trying to stock that now sat forgotten, and they got to the back door. The door was supposed to have a peephole, but theirs was covered up and Pam didn't see repairing it as a priority. Lindsey figured that if she got out of this alive, she wouldn't hesitate to call out another manager again.

Lindsey stood up, now out of view of the front of the store, and gingerly pushed the door open, leaning forward to peer outside. She pushed the door open wider, pressing her face near the widening crack to see the back parking lot was much less crowded than the streets. There were a few wandering shapes, but nothing that they couldn't outrun.

"We'll have to move quickly," she whispered over her shoulder at Sara and Justin. "There's a few of them out there."

Sara went pale, "How many?"

"I didn't count," Lindsey said. "Just keep together. Push them away if they get too close."

"Got it," Justin nodded. "Push the door open really hard too, knock away any that might be there."

Lindsey took a deep breath, putting both hands on the door. _One_ , she counted to herself, _two…_ _three!_ She shoved the door open with all of her might, and it flew open, crashing into one zombie that happened to be wandering past and knocking her onto the ground as the three raced out into the parking lot between two rows of stores. Aside from a few thin alleyways, the only way out would be going to the street on either side of the block. The zombies back here, about twenty-five of them in all wandering through, turned their attention to the three employees that had just arrived in their midst and snarled, closing in on all sides.

"Which way?!" Lindsey asked, surveying the zombies threatening to surround them.

"That way! Toward the beach!" Justin pointed, lifting his leg up and knocking a zombie away with a sharp kick.

Sara suddenly screamed, and the two of them looked at her in horror to see the woman that they'd knocked over had crawled over to the blonde and grabbed her leg, pulling it closer in a death grip as Sara kicked and tried to get away, "Aaaahhh! Help me!"

" _Sara!_ " Lindsey exclaimed, hurrying to help by kicking the zombie in the side of the head just before it managed to bite her. The zombie growled in response, and this time Lindsey stomped down on its head, breaking its fragile skull just like she did to the one inside. Lindsey grimaced at the squishy feeling of the brains on her work shoes, and was hit with a wave of repulsion as Sara broke free from it, breathing heavily.

"Thanks," she said gratefully, gulping her panic down, but the danger was still present. Justin led the way, pushing the zombies aside as they ran toward the street.

"So if we run along the beach, maybe we could get to the edge of the city-" Justin was trying to say before a loud _bang_ interrupted. Lindsey had never heard a gun before, so she didn't register what in the world had just happened until she saw the zombified police officer stumbled toward them, firing his gun like he didn't fully comprehend what it was. The first bullet hit the building next to them, and the second whizzed past their faces. "Oh shit! Move! Move!"

"Hurry! Out of the line of fire!" Lindsey shouted as Sara shrieked, breaking into a run.

"Into the alley! Over there!" Justin hollered. "Move! Go go-!"

The next thing Lindsey saw was the blood leaving Justin, seeming to shoot out of him as the bullet hit his side. He was cut off, eyes bulging, as he fell to the ground. For a moment, everything seemed to stop, and then reality came crashing down as Sara stopped, falling beside him and grasping at his stomach to flip him onto his back.

" _JUSTIN!_ " she cried. Lindsey looked back toward the cop as he pointed the gun again, but this time, it just clicked. He was out. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, and knocked him away with a kick when he got close enough. "Lindsey, help me!"

Justin's eyes were wide open, and he was breathing fast, unevenly, but he was still breathing. The blood poured from the wound, but if they were lucky, he could still survive. Lindsey looked around, the feeling of helplessness growing more consuming as she looked around at the zombies rapidly approaching, and then she took one of his arms.

"Sara, take his other one!" she demanded, frantically gesturing until Sara obliged, sweating as she looked around. "Come on! Drag him into that store!"

The two girls pulled him across the street, toward the clothing store, as the zombies approached. They hopped over the curb, pulling him over, and Lindsey threw the door open, helping Sara get Justin inside before she yanked the door closed behind them, letting the zombies throw themselves against the storefront as they got away from the windows, carrying Justin deeper into the store in search of a safe room or something to hide as more and more zombies began piling up outside, eager to break inside to find their fresh meat.


	4. The Military

**4**

 **The Military**

On the outskirts of Haven City, approximately two miles from the barricade around the city at the abandoned Northfield Surplus warehouse where the United States Military Special Ops had set up a makeshift base, soldiers worked to unload crates of supplies and weapons from the back of large military supply trucks. There were teams inspecting the warehouse's fence, ensuring that the perimeter was secure, and a squad at the gate, checking anyone who went in or came out. A helicopter was sitting atop the building, only a few soldiers guarding it.

Suddenly, over the bustle of the teams working to secure the area, came the outraged voice of Sergeant William Dylan.

" _Where is he?!_ "

Bitterly gritting his teeth as he scoured the area, lower-ranking officers were quick to get out of his way as Sgt. Dylan stormed through the base toward the warehouse. Inside, the lights cast a dim glow over the tables of laptops, cases, and other gear that had been set up as the headquarters of their base here. Captain Harrison Vance glanced up from the monitors as the Sergeant entered, coming to a stop in front of his commanding officer.

"What the hell, Captain?!" Dylan demanded, slamming his hands down on the table. "My men were ready, dammit! The humvees were stocked, the tactics were reviewed, and I'd finished going over the extraction plan for the survivors! We were all set to move into the city when I received the order that we _are not_ entering the outbreak zone!"

"What are your grievances, Sarge?" the captain asked tiredly.

"I want to know why you made that decision!" Dylan said. "We've sealed off the city and quarantined the outbreak, as per protocol! The Coast Guard is watching the shores! Now we have to move in before the virus can develop the potential to evolve like in Fortune City. I want to know why you gave the order to keep the city on lockdown, but refused us the clearance to enter. Was it because of Hemlock?"

Captain Vance couldn't help but shudder at the sound of General Hemlock's name. Although Hemlock was often hands-on with incidents involving the undead, this time he was preoccupied. The man was in an uproar right now, calling all anti-zombie advocates to pressure Congress for mandatory Zombrex chipping.

"Of course not," Vance shook his head. "My orders came from Senator Paddock."

"Paddock?! She's just as bad as he is! Hemlock's got her ear, he's probably the one who told her to send out the order!" Dylan protested. "Captain, you can see how ridiculous this is. There are survivors in Haven City; it's important that we move in as soon as possible!"

"And we will. In three day's time," Vance nodded. "We're following a procedure closely to pre-Fortune City. For now, keep the situation contained, shut down all access in and out of the area, and then we'll move in to eliminate the infected and rescue the survivors."

Dylan groaned, taking a moment to take a deep breath, "I can't believe that you're going along with this. You know how dangerous this is. The casualty count could be a disaster!"

"I'm going along with it because they were my orders," Vance replied firmly, "and I think that you have some orders of your own that do _not_ involve mouthing off to your commanding officer."

"Sometimes a soldier needs to think for himself," the sergeant answered, hanging his head as he turned to leave.

"That's how we'll end up with another Brock Mason," Captain Vance shot back, returning his attention to the monitors. His attention lingered on one of them, featuring Channel 6 Action News set up outside the quarantine zone where gates and barricades were being constructed on the main roads and expressways. He couldn't hear what the reporter was saying, but he gestured to the line of cars stuck in gridlock in the background to show that people were anxious to get out, and Vance knew that they were questioning the decision not to allow anyone out of the city.

He sighed, turning away from the monitor and deliberately ignoring it, trying to focus on his work. In the back of the captain's mind, however, he was questioning that decision too.


	5. Search for Shelter (Kirk)

**5**

 **Search for Shelter**

The streets were in utter chaos. The recently turned zombies, the fresh ones, were much quicker and more violent than the slower ones. Kirk held Rose's hand and pulled her through the outbreak as the emergency sirens wailed on every street, singing as though nobody had noticed that the undead were preying on the living. Kirk had never experienced an outbreak before, but what the news left out was the screaming. There was so much screaming as people were caught and devoured, or bitten and left to die without Zombrex. Rose cried out a few times behind him as zombies lunged, none of them coming close yet, and he gripped her hand a little tighter each time until he had a death grip. Soon, one of the zombies would manage to grab one of them; he could already feel her slowing down, growing tired. They had to find a safehouse, _fast_.

Around them, black smoke began to billow up into the sky as fires started, the destruction already evident. In front of them, they watched a zombie slam its hands against a store window as some people screamed inside, trapped. There was a loud splattering sound against the street somewhere close, and Kirk risked a quick look to see a man's lifeless body lying on the pavement.

"Kirk!" Rose yelped, nearly tripping as she tugged on his hand, gesturing toward an alleyway. "Quick! Through here!"

It only took a quick glance to see that there were no zombies in the alley to convince Kirk to follow her, "Where's the emergency shelter?!"

"Haven City doesn't have one!" Rose yelled back as they raced past a pair of trash cans. "I think that they thought it was unnecessary with the new ZDC protocols!"

"Dammit!" Kirk swore, charging down the alley just as a man fell into view at the end, screaming as a zombie tackled him against the wall and began to bite at his face. Kirk ran a bit quicker, hoping to kick the zombie away, but the man fell over and the zombie on top of him, letting him take a big chunk out of his chest. More zombies followed, blocking off the end of the alley. Kirk came to a stop, whirling around to see that another group of zombies had followed them into the alley, blocking that direction too. "Rose, stay close to me!"

Kirk scooped up one of the trash cans, grunting a bit under its weight as he took a few running steps toward the mob at the end of the alley and then heaved it at the zombies in the front. Those ones were immediately knocked off their feet, but the ones behind them stepped over the fallen and continued getting closer.

"They're coming!" Rose shrieked, pointing wildly at the horde behind them. Kirk looked at the other trash can, and grabbed it by one of the side handles and the bottom, feeling his arms shaking with the weight as he lifted it against his chest.

"Come on!" he shouted, holding it firmly as he took aim at the zombies at the end of the alley. " _Chaaaaarge!_ "

Holding the trash can in front of him, Kirk lunged forward toward the mob. Rose hurried to follow, crying out as he swung it back and forth to knock the zombies away. He could feel a cold hand grab his arm, but managed to pull free and push it away. He could feel the zombies crawling around at his feet, but he couldn't see the ground with the trash can. Kirk yelped, feeling a zombie grab his ankle, and he instinctively stomped down with his other foot, feeling a satisfying _crack_ underfoot as the zombie's grip loosened. They were almost out of the alley, fighting through the middle of the disorientated zombies, but more and more of them were just piling up when they took notice of what was going on. Kirk was already feeling the sweat on his hands slipping his grip on the trash can, and if they couldn't figure something out, they were going to die.

Suddenly, one of the zombies in the back of the mob had its head explode in a mess of blood and gore. A tall, muscular man with a baseball bat appeared at the back of the horde, slapping more of them aside with his bat and yelling over the sound of the groans, "Come on! Hurry!"

"Yaaagh!" Kirk shouted as he pushed forward with all of his strength, throwing the zombies out of the way as he stumbled out of the alley, ducking as the man swung his bat and killed another walker behind him. The trash can toppled out of his hands, and an empty bag of chips fell out onto the pavement as the lid popped off. Rose leapt up over the fallen zombies and the trash can as Kirk climbed to his feet, following the man with the bat down the street where two other guys and a girl were waiting for them, gesturing for everyone to follow them down toward the beach.

"Thanks!" Kirk said, panting after their near-death experience as he took Rose by the hand. "If you hadn't been there, we might not have made it!"

"Well, I couldn't just leave a couple of survivors stranded, right?" the man grinned as one of the guys in the front suddenly began pointing down one of the main roads, where cars were parked and crashed throughout the middle of the road.

"This way! This way!" he was saying, and now Kirk got a good look at their rescuers. The man guiding them was blond, wearing a white dress shirt. The woman was tan, with long brown hair, wearing a formal-looking dress. The guy following them was sweating nervously, his brown hair messy, and he was wearing a suit and clutching a satchel. The man with the bat was larger than Kirk in both height and build, and he wore a tank top that showed off massive biceps.

"You sure about that, Eric? This is one of the busiest streets in Haven City!" the man with the bat protested.

"Exactly!" Eric exclaimed. "So everyone will be _avoiding_ it! And it's the quickest way to the medical center!"

"Wait, the medical center?" Kirk repeated, looking around at each of them. "Why are we going there?!"

"In the event of an outbreak, hospitals and medical centers have a protocol to barricade the doors and protect everyone inside! They're basically safehouses!" the bat man replied. "Trust me, man, we have a plan!"

"My name's Kirk!" Kirk said.

"Jeez, come on, already!" the woman groaned, pushing the man toward the street as she looked over at Kirk and Rose. "There'll be time for introductions later. For now, I'm Savannah, this is Tyler," she nodded at the blond-haired leader and then at the man with glasses. "That's Eric, and that's Richard."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Rose," Rose grinned, "but this probably isn't the time."

"Got that right!" Tyler agreed as he swung the bat and cracked a few more zombie skulls from the approaching walkers. "Come on! The medical center is our best bet right now!"

Kirk surveyed the street, all the way until it reached an overpass and the rest was shrouded by darkness. Cars littered the street in all directions, many of them abandoned when the drivers saw the traffic stopping for the oncoming horde and a few of them facing the wrong direction. There were a number of small cars still zipping around the groups of zombies, but how long that would last, Kirk didn't know.

"Hurry! Everyone stay close together!" Eric hollered, motioning for everyone to follow him as he led the charge down the street. Kirk brought up the rear, just behind Rose to keep an eye on her. The zombies seemed to naturally stumble into groups all throughout the street, but when they caught sight of the survivors cutting through their midst, they moved away from the groups and staggered, snarling, toward the fresh meat. It seemed as though Haven City had already fallen to the undead.

"We can make it!" Savannah yelled encouragingly as one of the surviving cars crashed, and screaming rang out as the car was swarmed by zombies. He was too far away, and mobbed too quickly; there was nothing that they could do.

Tyler swung his bat downwards in one strong arc, smashing a zombie's head in and swinging at another one as that one flopped lifelessly to the ground, "Haaah! Dammit, they're everywhere!"

"No, we can make it! Just gotta get to the med center!" Eric urged them, pushing a fat zombie over as it growled at him, and everyone ran past it as it clumsily tried to get to its feet.

"Oh God! Oh God!" Richard was panicking, not making any attempt to fight as he trailed closely behind Eric, clutching his satchel. "We're gonna die!"

"Rich, focus!" Savannah tried to calm him down, but the man broke into a sweat and ducked away from the oncoming mob.

Kirk watched a zombie move closer to Rose, grasping at the air with its decaying fingers, and he grabbed its wrist before it could get to Rose. With his other arm, he reached down and grabbed its leg, lifting its leg up while throwing its arm down, effectively slamming it onto its back on the pavement. Kirk paused for only a moment, looking down into its emotionless dead face, before he brought his foot down on its head and squeezed the life from the zombie.

"Kirk, hurry up!" Rose pleaded, looking over her shoulder and oblivious to what he had just done for her.

"Give me a second, I think that my shoe's untied," he joked under his breath as he shook the gore off his sneaker, hurrying to catch up. They passed shops that still had doors open from the fleeing staff, restaurants with food lying overturned on the table. Kirk had thought that he and Rose were at the beginning of the outbreak, but it must have started somewhere else, somewhere more dense. The wave of zombies felt like it was crashing against the shore faster than they could outrun it.

Rose slowed down a bit so that they wouldn't be separated, but at that moment, something stumbled out of the mob of zombies that they hadn't noticed until it pushed through the rest of the undead horde. When Kirk saw it, he gasped, too caught off-guard to even realize to warn the others. The group of survivors that had saved them was ambushed, and all that he could do was watch.

" _Oh God what the hell is that thing?!_ " Savannah shrieked, almost falling over as she hastily tried to change direction to avoid it. The others stopped, watching it move toward them like a horror movie monster. It was tall, standing on crooked legs. Its skin was even more dry and cracked than the other zombies, to the point that this thing was hardly recognizable as human from the extra layer of puffy flesh. Around its shoulders and head was something like paper, until Kirk saw the insects buzzing around its head and felt a wave of nausea. It wasn't paper; they were building a hive around its _head_.

"Get back!" Tyler roared, charging at the creature and swinging his bat. Although it hit with a satisfying _whump_ , like he'd just thrown an uncooked steak against a concrete wall, the creature didn't relent. Tyler fell back, swatting at the air around his face with his hand. "God! What _is_ this?!"

"Queens!" Rose cried, "don't let them sting you!"

"Everyone come on, we need to run!" Eric said, turning around to the group and turning back to see a mob of zombies nearly upon them. "Shit!"

Kirk had never killed anyone. He had been involved in his share of beatdowns during a troubled youth, but never seriously hurt anybody. In the case of zombies, he had only seen one episode of Terror is Reality at a sports bar that had paid for the episode for its patrons to watch. The host was obnoxious, he remembered, too showy. Still, it felt like his body moved by itself toward the inhuman monster. He could see himself grabbing Richard by the shoulders, pulling him away from the thing while pushing himself forward, lashing out with his leg at the thing's stomach, seeking more to push away then to harm. In that respect, he succeeded; the monster was knocked away a bit, just enough for the group to move past, all except for Richard, who watched the creature with a pale face.

"I… I can't do this!" he screamed, adjusting his grip on his satchel as he turned on his heel and darted down an alleyway, his shouts and shrieks trailing behind him as he disappeared.

" _Richard, come back!_ " Savannah yelled, about to chase after him, but Tyler grabbed her arm and pulled her after the group.

"Come on, we have to move!" he hollered as Kirk grabbed Rose's hand and led her after Eric, away from the creature. "He made his choice!"

Savannah tried to pull away, and even with his strength, Tyler was struggling to hold onto her, "We can't leave anyone behind!"

"There's too many of them!" Eric called back, his tone shaking with terror. "I don't know if we can keep going!"

Kirk pushed away a zombie that suddenly lunged at them, scanning the street until he noticed a large brick building. The letters at the top were faded- this building had clearly stood for a long time, years before any of them were born- but still very readable. _ARMORY_.

"There! We can go in there!" Kirk shouted, pointing at the doors. Tyler noticed what he was doing and followed them, dragging a reluctant Savannah along with him. Eric glanced over his shoulder and quickly joined them as Kirk pulled the door open and ushered Rose inside, holding it and gesturing for the others to hurry. One-by-one, they all hurried inside, and once he was the last one, Kirk stepped inside and pulled the door shut behind him just as the mob of zombies crashed against the outside.

"Oh for God's sake… are you kidding?!" Tyler groaned, looking around. Kirk moved away from the door and saw that a bunch of makeshift shelves had been set up, each of them nearly empty with various knockoff brands of food or household supplies sitting at the spots that remained. "Where are all the weapons?!"

"They must have repurposed the armory for a store… and that clearly didn't go well," Eric said, noting how dilapidated the place was.

Now that the group was safe, they took a moment to relax. Kirk was overcome with a sudden shivering sensation down his spine at the thought of how close they had all come to being eaten, and he felt Rose clutch his hand a little tighter. He hadn't even been aware that she was still holding it.

Savannah paced back-and-forth bitterly as Eric collapsed in an old chair behind the counter and Kirk and Rose sat down against one of the shelves, "How could we just abandon Richard like that? What kind of people are we?"

"Hey, _he_ left _us_ ," Tyler argued. "We need to stop worrying about him and worry about ourselves. Are we still going to try to get to the medical center, or are we just going to try to hole up here?"

"Don't change the subject, Tyler!" Savannah grit her teeth, stepping closer to him. "If we leave him behind so easily, how do we know that we aren't going to leave anyone else?"

"We won't," Tyler insisted, turning away from her. "That's enough. If Richard wants to come back, he will, but I'm not going to go out there and look for him. We have more important things to worry about."

"You're so goddamn heartless!" Savannah yelled, looking at Eric pleadingly. He met her eyes and then quickly looked away, awkwardly clearing his throat.

"We have our own people to worry about," Eric said quietly.

"I can't believe you," Savannah said, looking from Eric to Tyler and then noticing Kirk. "I can't believe any of you! Tyler, you risked your life for this _stranger_ , but not for Richard? We've been working together for two years! Does that mean nothing to you?"

"Kirk and Rose were in trouble. They needed us." Tyler said, his voice strained like he was making an effort not to yell at her. "I guess that Richard decided he didn't. That's why I'm not going to go look for him. He can find someplace safe himself."

"If you won't help, then… then I will," Savannah said, looking toward the door. "I'll do it, I swear. I'll go-"

"I'll go find him," Kirk suddenly said, standing up. Rose looked up at him with her eyes widened in confusion. Savannah was silenced, looking back at him with something that was almost gratitude.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked fearfully.

"I just wanted to get you somewhere safe," Kirk said, looking down at her. "And here, with all of them, is as good as we're going to get." He looked back at the others, who were all staring at him. "I'm pretty fast on my feet. I can take a quick look around the area for him and make it back. It's the least I can do for you saving us back there."

Savannah's expression hardened into something unreadable, and then she said curtly, "Well, I can see that _he_ has bigger balls than either of you."

"You sure about that, man?" Tyler asked, crossing his arms quizzically. "I mean, I don't want to be mean, but Richard ain't exactly a fighter. I don't think that he would have gotten very far."

"I'll be careful," Kirk grinned. "I'm stronger than I look." He looked down at Rose, as she sighed and leaned against the shelves. "Rose, I'm sorry."

"No, no," she smiled. "I trust you. You're always trying to help people. I… I'm proud of it. Just don't die, okay?"

"I'll do my best."

"Kirk!" Eric said, leaning on the counter. "Listen, even if you don't find Richard, if you find anyone else alive out there…"

"I know what to do," Kirk nodded, walking toward the back of the building where he hoped to find a back door. "I'll be back soon."


	6. The Hunters (Lindsey)

**6**

 **The Hunters**

 **Author's Note:** At the time of this writing, the news has just broken that Capcom Vancouver, the Western studio responsible for the Dead Rising franchise from Dead Rising 2 onward has been officially shut down and work on Dead Rising 5 has presumably been cancelled. Dead Rising 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, so this news was kind of devastating. With the future of the series unclear, I will continue writing with a heavy heart, though still hopeful that they will resume development of the series in Japan. -Alex Sorrow

"Are they still out there?" Lindsey asked, adjusting her new blue tank top.

Sara peeked over the counter and then nodded at Lindsey as the latter stood behind a rack of clothes, pulling on a light hoodie. Her work pants and shoes were gone, replaced with jeans and a pair of boots. Her brown hair was still tied back in a ponytail, and as she zipped the sweatshirt halfway up her chest, she glanced over toward the back of the shop. Under the counter with Sara, Justin let out a low groan.

"Just leave me here," he said tonelessly. "I'm going to die, I can feel it, just leave me and run…"

"We're not leaving anyone," Lindsey promised, checking out her new outfit in the mirror and, satisfied, she crouched down and hurried across the store to the counter. Outside, the zombies clawed at the window, but some of them had lost interest. "Are you ready?"

"I guess," Sara nodded, helping Lindsey to pull Justin up to his feet as each girl pulled one of his arms over their shoulder, holding him up. "Where are we supposed to go?"

"Out of the city," Lindsey said. "If I remember correctly, the military is supposed to seal off the infected area, and then they open up a checkpoint for the survivors to escape. It used to be that you had to go to a safehouse and wait for them to arrive, but this way is much quicker."

"Maybe we can find a car…" Justin offered, still sounding tired, "...or something…"

"We need to go somewhere safe," Sara said nervously, looking down at where they'd put duct tape over Justin's wound to stop the bleeding and then tied a shirt over it. The shirt was stained in blood. "Who knows how long he has, that wound could be infected-"

"You only become a zombie with a _bite_ , Sara," Lindsey said.

"I mean _infected_ infected! With bacteria and stuff!" Sara said heatedly. "He got hit with a _bullet,_ okay, he got _shot!_ If a little cut can get infected, what do you think that this is?!"

"Jesus, okay! I get it! I'm sorry," Lindsey apologized, taking a deep breath. "Look, I'm worried too, but we can't think about that right now. All that we can do is get to safety, okay? We can talk about this when there _aren't_ a bunch of corpses piled up outside. Are you ready?"

Sara was scowling, but begrudgingly nodded, "Let's go."

"Follow my lead," Lindsey said, walking toward the back of the store where the door for an employee entrance was locked. She hesitated, twisting the lock and resting her hand on the knob, and looked back at her two coworkers. Justin was struggling to stand on his own, but there was determination in his eyes. Sara's expression was hard, but her lip was twitching, like she was trying her best not to let anyone know that she was about to cry. Lindsey turned back toward the door, and then she pulled the door open, just like back at Colombian Roastmasters. This time, however, there were no zombies in the road behind them. In the distance, they could hear a loud truck.

"So are we going toward the expressway, or what?" Sara asked, bowing her head under Justin's weight as they moved at a steady pace behind the line of stores toward the street. "I think that the quickest way out of Haven City might be to follow Main Street until we get to the end."

"I think so too, but that road is probably crawling with zombies," Lindsey agreed, cautiously scanning the area. "The worst part is that we don't know which roads are blocked off and which ones aren't. With how busy that one is, they might have just shut it down."

"And the expressway _isn't_ busy?" Sara grumbled as the sounds of the truck seemed to grow louder.

"Lindsey is right," Justin said, the words coming out in ragged breaths. "But… we need to go through downtown… it's the fastest way…"

"What about the zombies?! There's going to be _tons_ of them!" Sara protested.

Lindsey adjusted her grip on Justin, "Well… yeah, but there will also be survivors, right? People like us! They can help!" she looked around, quickly stepping away from a zombie that seemed to appear from nowhere to swipe at them, but for the most part, this side road was devoid of any life, both alive and undead. "And if the zombies are too much, we can stop to rest in the shops, just… just like before…"

"What's wrong?" Sara glanced to Lindsey, who had trailed off and was now surveying the area with a puzzled expression.

"Is it me," Lindsey asked, "or does that engine sound like it's coming closer-?"

Sara screamed and Lindsey cried out, both of them torn between staggering away and getting down as an enormous black truck roared around the corner on 40-inch rims. The front bumper was reinforced with grille guards that were splattered in blood, and upon closer observation, various knives were jutting out from it. Lights were shining from the roof rack, blinding them to the driver or the laughing men in the back.

"Move! Move!" Lindsey hollered, hastily pulling Justin toward the side of the street just as the truck screeched to a stop only a few meters away, the knives glistening in the sunset. The engine purred as the lights dimmed, and Lindsey could see the men in the truck. Two were riding in the cab, and two more were riding in the back. As they stumbled away, the two men in the back raised rifles at them, taking aim before the guy riding shotgun in the cab held up his hand.

"Wait!" he yelled, and the two stopped, but did not take their aim off the three. The man hopped out of the truck, a crossbow in his hand as he reached up and adjusted his net baseball cap featuring the logo for the Haven City Horses. Beneath a greasy, patchy goatee, he smiled, showing off yellowed teeth. "Well… ain't this sweet. We got some survivors."

"You ladies need an escort?" one of the men in the back called out, and both of them started laughing as they lowered their rifles. Lindsey couldn't help but grimace.

"You can ignore Darren," the man, clearly the leader, smiled as he held the crossbow aimed up. "My name is Paul. Don't suppose you'd like to come along with us?"

Lindsey and Sara both spoke up at the same time.

"Well, that's really nice of you, but-" Lindsey began.

"I don't think that we should-" Sara said, and both girls fell silent as they exchanged a look with each other. Something here didn't feel right. Not with these men.

"Shit, it's no trouble, no trouble at all," Paul said, stepping a bit closer. "I _insist_ , in fact. Wouldn't be responsible to have two young ladies walkin' around with so many zombies that we have yet to kill," Paul suddenly lowered his crossbow, pointing it at Justin. "Like that fella there."

"Wait, what?!" Lindsey cried out as Sara frantically tried to pull Justin away. Lindsey let go of him, allowing Sara to bring him away from the truck. "You… you want to _kill_ Justin?!"

"'Course I do," Paul said, as casually as if they were talking about getting rid of a neighbor's cat. "We're the ones cleanin' up the streets of all this filth while the military sits on their asses waiting for those pricks in D.C. to give 'em the all-clear to move in."

"But he wasn't bit! It's a bullet wound, he was shot!" Lindsey protested, feeling the other men getting ready to open fire on him. "He isn't infected! He isn't!"

Paul's smile faded, and he suddenly grabbed Lindsey's arm, roughly, squeezing her painfully enough that she had to hold back a cry, "Listen to me," he said through grit teeth. "The only thing worse than a zombie is the people who protect 'em. That's why C.U.R.E. fell apart, and why the ZDC don't focus on 'curing' anyone. If you ain't with the livin', then you're with the zombies," he lowered his crossbow and pushed Lindsey away, strolling back to the truck and climbing inside. "And we all know what happens to zombies!"

"Oh shit… fuck me," Lindsey said tonelessly as the engine began to rev and the truck began to move toward them. At once, she turned on her heel and ran toward Sara and Justin. The truck took off like a bullet, and the men in the back held on, laughing as the driver moved to ram them. Lindsey didn't have time to make a plan, to do anything beside think _I have to get them out of the way_. She lunged, feeling the truck barely miss, careening past them as she tackled Sara and Justin against the store, giving them only a few feet between the truck and the wall as the hunters zoomed past, cursing at them as they continued to the end of the road and made a wide turn. "Go! Go! We need to get out of here!"

"Down there!" Sara shouted, pointing at a narrow space between two of the shops. There was no way that the truck would fit through. Lindsey risked a look behind her to see that the men in the back were raising their guns, and she could feel herself breathing heavily as they reached the alleyway and pushed themselves through. As the truck grew closer, Lindsey suddenly grabbed Justin and pulled him to the pavement.

" _Get down!_ " she hollered, and Sara hit the dirt just as the truck sped past, and the men fired their rifles, the bullets whizzing through the air just above them.

 _Crack! Crack!_

"Oh god! Oh god!" Sara was shrieking as the two girls climbed to their feet and rushed to pull Justin up as the truck made another turn.

"Sara, listen to me!" Lindsey yelled as they hurried out of the alley into the street on the other side where zombies were wandering around, some of them noticing the three but most of them ignorant. "Take Justin to safety! Over there!" she pointed at a small bakery wedged between two larger shops. "Go! I'll hold them off!"

"How?!" Sara cried, but she pulled Justin across the road to the bakery, and as Lindsey watched her push the door open and then quickly close it behind them, she realized that it was actually a pretty good question.

And as the truck came roaring around the corner, it was time for a pretty good answer.

Lindsey Connor had been one of the best girls on the track team in High School- and she had tried to maintain the habit of running after that, but between college and her serious relationship, or at least the one that she'd _thought_ was serious- but it had been a while since she'd seriously _ran_. Still, the old motions, the old sensations, they came flooding back to her as she whirled around on her heel, feeling the truck coming around the corner and smashing a few zombies to pieces as the hunters came after her, and she ran. Cars filled the street, abandoned, some of them on the sidewalk, and she made sure to weave between them to make it more difficult for the driver to follow her.

A bullet suddenly hit the hood of the car next to her, and she ducked down with a scream as the two in the back fired at her. Lindsey stayed crouched, moving as best as she could as she heard the truck stop, the men yell, and then footsteps on pavement as the two in the back jumped out to chase her.

"Get back here, girl!" Darren shouted.

"Watch the zombies, man, they're all over!" the other one said, opening fire on some of them as Darren swung the butt of the rifle into their heads.

Lindsey hurried behind cars, diving out from behind the car to get behind a smaller truck, trying to lure them away from where Sara and Justin were hiding. She heard the man yell behind her- "Over there!"- as she ducked down, feeling her hand land on something squishy. She looked over and gasped, nearly jumping out from the cover when she saw the corpse. A man, his neck bitten in half, lying limply against the vehicle. Her hand had landed on his, or at least where his right hand used to be. In his left hand, he held a metal baseball bat that was stained with blood. Biting her lip, Lindsey reached out and pried it from his hands. Testing it in her hand and smacking it against her palm, she smiled. A weapon. Perfect.

She heard their boots scraping against the pavement, drawing closer. Darren seemed determined to get to her, but the other one was watching for zombies, shooting at any that came near. Bad move; if Lindsey remembered right, the sound of gunfire would only bring more of them. Unfortunately, that meant that it was also her problem. She slowly stood up, trying to quiet her heavy breathing, and peered through the window. Immediately, the truck's windows shattered as Darren opened fire, sending shards of glass flying. Lindsey quickly ducked down, and rolled under the truck. Gulping down air, sweat dripping down her face, she watched their boots appear from behind another car, slowly coming closer to the truck. Licking her lips, she watched them approach until she could reach out and grab one of their boots. She clutched the bat a bit tighter, about to try to sneak out, when another pair of shuffling feet came into view, groaning with each step.

"There's more of them coming!" the man yelled, firing his rifle, and Lindsey watched the zombie fall to the ground with a bullet hole in its head, but then more of them came into view. "We need to get back!"

"Not until she's fucking dead!" Darren declared, finding the dead man. He stopped walking. Lindsey stopped breathing. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Darren suddenly began to kneel down, and then his face appeared under the truck. The world seemed to come crashing back to her, and she lashed outwards with the bat, slamming the tip between his eyes. He stumbled away, dropping his rifle as he fell onto his back and grasped at his face, yowling with pain, "Ahhh _shit! Oh fuck this hurts! Bitch!_ "

"Get up, man, get up!" the man said urgently, firing toward the oncoming horde, but more and more zombie groans began to fill the air like a horrifying cacophony of doom. Darren reached for his rifle as Lindsey rushed to get out from under the truck on the other side, and she heard him climbing to his feet. As she got up, a zombie moaned as it lunged to grab her. She cried out, reaching up in time to grab its face and push it away before it could bite her. A long kick to the thing's stomach sent it further away, and then she swung the bat in a downward arc, crushing its head. Lindsey hurried to run away, hearing the men running back toward the other hunters. She risked a look behind her just as Darren came around the edge of the truck and noticed her. He uttered an animalistic growl, pulling up his rifle.

"Goddamn zombie lover!" he yelled, moving his finger onto the trigger. Lindsey frantically moved to get out of the way, but it was too late. Just as Darren was about to shoot her, the other man fell into him, throwing his aim off and sending the bullet flying into the side of a car. Darren swore, but he abruptly fell silent when he saw the zombie falling onto his friend. The man screamed, trying to push the zombie off of him, and Darren brought up his gun again, "Hold it up! Let me get a shot!"

"Aaaaaghhhh!" the man shrieked as the zombie bit into his shoulder. Darren fired, and the zombie fell lifeless against the man's chest as he weakly crawled back, clutching his bite wound and looking up at Darren pleadingly. Darren closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said as the man whimpered, and then he shot the man too. With that, he ran back to the truck, pushing zombies out of the way, " _You killed Craig!_ You're fucking dead, lady! Dead!"

"He could've gotten some Zombrex, you goddamn psychopath!" Lindsey yelled back as he rejoined the others in the truck, hauling himself up and into the back. At once, she ran to where Craig's dead body was lying, a pool of blood forming around his head, and she retrieved his rifle, pulling it up to aim at the truck as the driver pulled it away from the cars to drive away. Lindsey had never shot a gun before, but the adrenaline wouldn't let her stop now. She closed one eye, aiming as best as she could, and she fired. Her first shot missed entirely, and she reloaded and fired again. This time, she caught a tire, sending the truck skidding across the road as it lost a wheel, and Darren struggled to stay balanced in the back as the driver fought for control, ramming the truck into a fire hydrant that sent water shooting all over the street, and then crashing into another truck that flung Darren out of the truck into the air, screaming, and then roughly hitting the ground.

Lindsey moved to fire again, but the rifle was empty. Grumbling, she dropped it and ran back to the bakery, pushing the door open and hurrying through the place. It was warm inside, and it still smelled like cake. Just the thought made her mouth water, but she had to reach Sara and Justin.

She found them huddled behind the counter, and Sara looked up at her with her watery eyes.

"What the hell is happening out there?!" she asked incredulously.

"I'll tell you later! Come on, I think their truck is totaled. We need to get out of here before they come for us!" Lindsey said, grabbing Justin's arm and helping Sara lift him to his feet, dragging him toward the back of the store and pushing the door open. Sara looked back, longingly, as the door closed behind them.

"I used to get donuts here before a morning shift…" she said fondly, her tone sorrowful.

"Well, it just saved our lives," Lindsey said. "Maybe that's your reward for being a loyal customer."

Lindsey, Sara, and Justin stumbled down the road, avoiding zombies as they went, until from down the road up ahead they could see something turn around the corner and head down the street toward them. It looked like a 4x4 ATV, the kind that looked like a tricked out golf cart with a driver and a man with a shotgun riding along. Lindsey tensed up at the sight of it, and Sara leaned over as the two men noticed them as well.

"Should we run?" she whispered.

"These aren't the same guys," Lindsey shook her head, waiting for them to come closer. "Let's just see what they want first."

The ATV drew nearer, and came to a stop in front of them. The driver leaned his head out to speak to them, his eyes drawn to Justin's wounds.

"Looks like we came at the right time," he said with a smile.

"Who are you?" Lindsey asked.

"We're your best chance right now," the man with the shotgun said, gesturing toward the back. "We're patrolling the streets, rounding up survivors for the Medical Center. We've got it set up as an emergency shelter."

"A shelter?" Sara repeated hopefully.

The driver nodded, "The guy in charge, Dr. Winslow, he can help your friend. Hurry up, get in the back."

Lindsey and Sara exchanged a look, and finally Lindsey shrugged, motioning for Sara to help her lift Justin into the back.

"Are you sure about this?" Sara asked.

"I don't know," Lindsey confessed as she and Sara got into the ATV and the driver turned around to take them back to the med center, "but what choice do we have?"


	7. Protocol

**7**

 **Protocol**

The hammer pounded against the nail as Detective Graham worked on putting the 2x4 over the window. He focused on keeping his eyes focused on the nail, but he could feel his gaze drifting to the snarling zombie banging its head against the window on the other side. On the other side of the room, Officer Spencer was working to secure another window. As the two men both moved onto another window, Officer Jansen hurried into the room, her arms filled with more wood for the barricades.

"This is all that I could find," Jansen panted, dropping them into a pile in the middle of the room. "I don't think we're getting out of here. The garage is full of them, and we've lost radio contact with every unit in the city."

"Shit," Graham said, scooping up another 2x4 and then, biting his lip, looked over toward the windows. "I think that we're done in this room. We should keep moving."

"You don't think that they could break through?" Spencer asked, picking up his hammer.

Graham shook his head, "Not if we stay away from the windows. They won't have a reason to try to break through if they don't see us."

"We need to make sure the place is safe for when… for if we start rounding up survivors," Jansen finished softly, awkwardly. Graham and Spencer exchanged a look.

"Let's keep moving," Graham said without acknowledging her, picking up the stack of wooden planks and carrying them to the next room. "Just a few more windows and this place should be as secure as anywhere else."

None of them said another word as they moved to the next room, an office, determined to barricade every window and door on the first floor of the Haven City Police Department. They were nearly finished; all that was left was this room, an office that belonged to someone who surely didn't need it anymore. Graham dropped the stack of wood onto the desk, and he and Spencer got their hammers and got to work.

"Could you go check the armory?" Spencer asked Jansen over his shoulder. "Look for riot gear, guns, ammo, Zombrex, whatever we have that you think is gonna be useful."

"On it," she nodded, taking off through the abandoned precinct and leaving the two men in silence. The sound of the zombies groaning, the hordes of them shuffling past sent chills running down their backs. Each pounding of the hammers against the nails cracked like thunder, as if to tell the zombies that there were survivors in here.

"Do you really think that we will?" Spencer asked.

"That we'll what?"

"Gather survivors," Spencer asked, gesturing to the open doorway where Jansen stood. She was a new officer on the team, had been an intern for months. "Turn this place into a damn safehouse."

"We have enough Zombrex," Graham noted.

"But not enough food," Spencer said. "And this isn't some official federal emergency shelter. We don't have two feet of concrete walls, we have some boards over windows. We don't know when the military is going to come in here-!"

"Standard procedure for a zombie outbreak is to gather survivors in public buildings," Graham interrupted, turning away from the board.

"And standard procedure is also to set up military checkpoints for uninfected survivors to exit the quarantine zone!" Spencer exclaimed, dropping his hammer. "For fuck's sake, we had a few units moving to assist the ZDC evacuate the city, but they reported that there _was_ no evacuation before they went radio silent! Something isn't right here. They aren't following protocol."

"But _we_ will," Graham commanded. Spencer opened his mouth to retort, but Jansen frantically dashed back into the room. Spencer noticed the lack of weapons and supplies first, and crossed his arms as he turned away from the window.

"Where are the guns?" he growled.

"S-Someone's outside!" she said quickly. The two men stopped, and Spencer's 2x4 clattered to the floor as he stared back at her.

Without another word, Graham took off out of the room, following Jansen as she led him to the front of the police station. They had already barricaded the door with desks and put up the wooden planks over the windows, but he didn't have to see outside to hear the woman's screams.

Graham reached the window, peering over the barrier to see a woman running through the street, clearly panicking. The zombies, drawn at first to the police station, now took notice and shambled after her in a mob. She wasn't doing herself any favors, as her screams only brought in more of them.

"God damn," Spencer said from behind them; evidently, he'd came to see.

"We need to help her!" Jansen exclaimed, darting for the door. She took hold of one of the desks at the back and began pushing it away. Spencer moved toward the desk, taking hold of the other side, but instead of helping Jansen, he pushed it back into place. Horrified, she looked back at him as she struggled to move it against him. "What are you doing?!"

"Saving our lives!" he shot back, shoving the desk into Jansen's stomach hard enough to knock her back, gasping. Graham rushed over, pushing Spencer aside with his arm and clutching at the front of his uniform with his hands.

"Good lord, Spencer! Get ahold of yourself!" Graham shouted as Jansen doubled over, looking up at Spencer with a mixture of terror and fury.

"We're supposed to protect and serve!" Jansen wheezed, breathing deeply. " _Murderer!_ You _murdered_ that woman!"

"Protect and serve _who?!_ " Spencer demanded, pulling away from Graham and pointing at the window. Outside, the woman had fallen to her knees, sobbing, and the zombies were closing in. Her screams began anew as she was pinned under a pile of corpses and torn apart, the shrieks muffled behind the window, but the pain was real. The loss. The suffering. Graham closed his eyes; today he had witnessed more death than he had during a twenty year career in the HCPD. "We can't help her. The only thing left to do is to help ourselves, and we aren't doing that by taking down the fucking barricade!"

With those heavy words lingering in the air, Spencer turned and angrily marched back to the room to finish putting up the barricade. Jansen fell to her knees, still clutching her stomach as tears streamed from her eyes, the reality of the situation overwhelming.

"Protect and serve… supposed to protect…" she whimpered. Graham looked down at her solemnly, keeping his eyes down at the floor as he reluctantly followed Spencer into the office. The officer wasn't a raging fire anymore, but Graham could tell that his temper was still simmering. Spencer moved to pick up another 2x4, but noticed Graham's barricade and stepped across the room toward it.

"This isn't gonna work," he said, pointing. Graham tilted his head, unsure of what he meant.

"It's a board over a window. Why wouldn't it?"

"We need another board, and we need to move this one down," Spencer said, wildly gesturing to where he thought they needed to be. "I mean, Jesus Christ detective, did you do this with _every_ window? Damn zombies break through the glass, they could just reach through the gap and grab you."

"They won't be able to break through the window. That's part of what the board does," Graham said, sitting on the edge of the desk. "You need to calm down."

"I'm trying to keep us alive in here!" Spencer yelled, pointing at the door with the hammer. "Jansen doesn't understand, we can't protect people if we're dead too!"

"And what? Are the boards going to help people? Are we going to start getting people in here after we have these barricades set up?"

"I don't know, we have to think, we need a plan-"

"There is no plan! The only plan right now is to save our own asses, and you're just mad that Jansen knows it because you don't want to admit it," Graham argued, looking down and bitterly slamming his fist on the desk. "Spencer, I… god dammit, Spencer, I think we made the wrong choice."

"Don't let her get to you," Spencer said, glaring out the door where Jansen's crying had quieted. "We did everything that we could, and now we have to save our own asses."

"We can't."

"What?"

"We _can't_ ," Graham said, standing up. "It's against protocol."

"Detective!" Spencer all but screamed. "Don't you get it?! The military isn't coming in! The city is locked down, we're all stuck here, _nobody_ is following protocol!"

" _I_ will," Graham shot back, "because that's our _duty_ to this city, to these people! You put up the damn barricade, I'm going to the garage to take a van out. I'll bring back anyone that I can find."

"Jansen said the garage was overrun!" Spencer retorted. "How are you going to get through the zombies in there?"

"If some hotshot photographer or a former motocross star can survive the two biggest outbreaks in American history, an officer of the law can clear out a parking garage," Graham said, starting toward the door, but Spencer moved across the room with startling speed and pushed the door closed.

"I'm not going to let you risk your life," he said quietly, threateningly.

"That's what I signed up for when I put on this badge," Graham answered, refusing to back down. "Now get out of my way."

The two men held their standoff for a few more seconds until, without warning, the doorknob turned and Jansen tried to push the door open. Spencer was caught off-guard, and he stumbled away from the door as it hit against his back, and Graham took advantage of it to push him away. What happened next happened fast, so fast that Graham could hardly comprehend it until it was over.

Spencer leapt up to grab him and Graham pushed him back again. Spencer was ready for it, and with a throaty yell, he brought his fist back and launched it into Graham's face. Rocked by the punch, Graham fell back as Jansen watched in horror. Then, with a shout, she lunged, trying either to tackle Spencer around the middle or to knock the wind out of him. He moved back, grabbing her by the wrists and pulling her up to be face-to-face.

" _I'm going to save us!_ " he shouted. " _No damn infected are getting in here!_ "

Jansen shoved herself away, and Spencer stepped back, against the window that he hadn't finished barricading. As Graham climbed up, holding his swollen cheek in his hand, Spencer held his arms out.

" _I'll survive even if I have to kick you out!_ " he hollered just as Graham saw the dark shape come into view behind him. The window shattered, the moans outside becoming louder as a zombie lurched through the window, grabbing Spencer around the middle and pulling him in. Spencer howled, trying to use his fists to punch the monster behind him, but the zombie brought its face down into his shoulder, biting and tearing away a large chunk of skin.

"Oh God! Oh God no!" Jansen shrieked.

Graham drew his service pistol, watching in horror, " _Spencer!_ "

But it was too late. Spencer was hauled out the window by the mob of zombies breaking in, yelling and screaming. He kicked, his boots scraping against the broken window as he disappeared out into the horde, and then his shouts turned to pleas, and then pleas to cries and finally cries to silence as the zombies mobbed him, devouring him alive. Hysterical, Jansen began crying as Graham reached out, dropping the gun and wincing at the pain in his cheek as he took her in his arms and tried to comfort her.

"They got in… what do we do now?" she asked between sobs.

Graham glared at the broken window as the zombies outside began to lose interest in the meal and turn their attention to the two tasty morsels inside.

"Settle down, Officer Jansen," he commanded, letting go of her and grabbing his service weapon from the floor. "After we clear the armory, we're going to clear the garage. Protocol says we help any survivors we find, and that's exactly what we're going to do."

Jansen wiped her eyes, nodding determinedly, "Roger that."

"Protect and serve," Graham mumbled absently, walking out of the office toward the armory with his service pistol aimed forward. "Protect and serve. Always."


	8. The Conspiracy (Kirk)

**8**

 **The Conspiracy**

Kirk Reid ran through the zombie infested streets, shoving the undead out of his way and looking around wildly until he finally spied the alleyway that Richard had gone down and rushed toward the opening. One zombie stepped in front of him, arms held up and mouth open in a snarl, but one strong kick to its stomach sent it flying back into a few others, knocking them all to the ground.

Dashing to the alleyway, leaning against the brick wall and watching to see if any of them were following him, Kirk took a moment to rest, "What the hell am I doing out here?"

The streets were filled with them, wandering around, growling, groaning. He shakily began moving down the alley, past a few trash cans and a store backdoor that was slightly ajar; somebody must have run out in such a hurry that they'd left it. Taking a moment to check the alley again to convince himself that he was safe for the time being, he opened the door to peek inside. There were a few cardboard boxes lining the wall next to the door, and against the other wall were shelves of miscellaneous objects like umbrellas and coats.

Kirk almost left, closing the door behind him, until a red box on the wall caught his eye, obscured in the shadows between two rows of shelves. Heart pounding in excitement, he hurried toward it, his footsteps sounding eerily loud in the intense silence. As he drew close enough to see what it was, his grin widened.

"A fire axe…" he murmured gleefully to himself as he opened the box and gently pulled the axe out. It was dusty- probably hadn't been touched in years- but the head was still sharp enough to do some serious damage. It was small, and he could easily hold it in one hand. "Kickass. Just what I needed."

Testing the weight of the axe in his hand as he made his way back outside, Kirk moved with much more confidence than he had before. As he emerged from the abandoned store back into the shady alleyway, he turned toward the end and noticed a zombie wandering inside, raising its arms as it noticed him.

Kirk smirked, raising the axe as he moved swiftly toward the hungry walker before bringing it down, burying the blade in its head. The zombie's snarl wavered, and then stopped entirely as Kirk yanked the axe out and let the zombie drop to the ground, lifeless.

"Can I _axe_ you a question?" he joked to himself, thinking that Rose would have appreciated it. Continuing on, he scoured the streets for any signs of life. "Dammit. Where the hell could he have gone from here?"

The answer? Anywhere. Richard had been panicking. There was no way that he was in any coherent state of mind to do anything besides run or hide. If he had ran, Kirk could be searching all of Haven City before he found him, but if Richard was hiding someplace, it was up to _him_ to decide whether or not to be rescued.

Just as Kirk was debating whether or not to call out to him, he noticed another alleyway up ahead, this one with a fire escape climbing up the building. Grinning, he hurried across the street, darting through before any of them realized he was there, and found himself at the bottom.

Standing under it, Kirk opted to throw the axe up where it hit the metal grates with a loud _clatter_ before leaping up and grabbing the bottom of the ladder, "Maybe having the high ground will help me spot him…"

As he climbed, he could hear the shuffling feet of the undead drawn to his location by the noise and the creaking of the ladder as he made his way up, throwing himself over the railing and falling onto the fire escape beside his axe. Through the grated floor, he could see a mob starting to form, their hands grasping at the air above in a vain attempt to grab him.

"Guess going back isn't an option…" he muttered, reclaiming his axe as he climbed the stairs up to the top. The building was only three stories high, but something felt wrong. As the zombie groans below grew more distant, drowned out by the sound of his own footsteps on the stairs as he climbed, he felt strangely out-of-place.

As he reached the top, he realized that Haven City was quiet. No traffic. No people. The only sounds around here were the sounds of death.

The fire escape ended at a window, and upon trying to pry it open, Kirk found that it was locked. He peered inside, finding an empty living room. The decorator was a minimalist, or maybe they just couldn't afford much. Still, he didn't feel at all guilty as he brought the blunt end of the axe head back and then slammed it into the glass, shattering the window. He used the bottom of the axe to push a few more glass shards out of the way, and then swung his leg over and climbed inside.

"Hello?" he called out, hearing no response other than the sound of his heartbeat in his ears. Crossing the living room, he opened the door and peeked outside. "Anyone there?"

No response.

Everybody must have been at the festival when it struck. Kirk had seen the news reports about Fortune City, the overanalysis of the infection saying how freshly infected zombies moved fast and their bite spread the infection much more quickly than regular, decaying ones, not to mention the presence of Queens. Kirk didn't remember seeing any, but if those zombie bees were zipping around, it made sense to him how Haven City could have fallen so fast. After all, who was expecting to need Zombrex? Nobody ever saw it coming, and in the heart of downtown where people were crowding around for a fun afternoon, they hadn't stood a chance.

Kirk walked through the apartment, leaving through the front door and emerging into a dim hallway that led toward two sets of stairs, both going in opposite directions. Kirk opted to head upstairs, to the roof. There was a large door at the top of the staircase, and for a moment he worried that it would be locked, but to his relief it opened easily and he stepped out. The sky was slowly darkening, slowly but surely. He hadn't realized how much time had passed since the disaster started. As he walked to the edge of the rooftop, he unconsciously gripped the fire axe a little tighter.

To his surprise, the street below was largely clear except for a few zombies standing in an odd single file pattern near an area were corpses were strewn around, and upon closer inspection, he could see several metal cases positioned neatly in the street, forming a perimeter. Raising an eyebrow, Kirk looked down both sides of the street to see that there were zombies, but whenever they began walking in this direction, they would turn around when they came close to the cases.

"That's… not right…" he murmured, examining the zombies that were standing in place. To his surprise, they were holding machine guns, and he could hear… talking? He felt a shiver run down his back as he realized that these weren't zombies. They were wearing disguises. But still… who were they?

These men were gathered on both sides of the street, blocking off this specific area for some reason. In the middle, there were more zombies, and they seemed like _actual_ zombies. There was a large unmarked black van parked on the side of the road, and the zombies were wearing harnesses attached to the van by ropes. They didn't seem to notice the disguised men, and seemed satisfied to just wander around in their clearing.

"What the hell is this…?" Kirk whispered to himself, trailing off as he peered straight down. The front door to the apartment building was directly below him, and as he watched, trying not to make a sound, a man stepped out. He was Asian, his black hair slicked back, and his black suit seemed out-of-place. It was too clean, too unwrinkled. In his hand was a metallic briefcase. With the calm, detached look on his face, he seemed more likely to be on his way to a business conference than surviving an outbreak.

He straightened his tie as he walked out, and as soon as the zombies took notice of the man, they began groaning as they staggered toward him, held back only by the harnesses. The man didn't look afraid; in fact, he was smiling humorlessly as he observed them.

"Fine specimens," he remarked, his voice emotionless, each word clearly pronounced so it was audible even to Kirk from where he was watching overhead. As he stared, the man strolled casually between the zombies, ignoring their outstretched arms and gaping maws, and stepped over to the van. The man disappeared inside, and after a few moments, reappeared with the briefcase missing and instead a bulky satellite phone with a long antenna in his hand, pressed against his ear.

Kirk held his breath, straining to listen. Fortunately, the Disguised Zombie Mercs had fallen silent, and he could very faintly hear him over the sound of the zombies moaning.

"Yes, the project is going according to plan," the man said to whoever was on the other line. "You'll find that I'm much more competent than that idiot Singh... excuse me? Of course he wasn't. He only jeopardized all of us, especially you, Marian… of course. Once the effects of the King formula present themselves, we will begin the harvest immediately… yes, the King zombies are quite volatile and difficult to control. I daresay that Mr. Porter could have began the outbreak himself even without us unleashing the Queens throughout the city."

Kirk froze. His gut instinct was telling him to get out of there, but he had to hear more. He had to know; all of this chaos and destruction, was it all because of that man?

"I'll give you another update before we begin the harvest," the man said. "...yes. I understand. So long as Frank West or Chuck Greene doesn't drop in here, we should be fine…" the man gave a tiny, almost unamused smile. "My apologies, I know that you despise jokes about that… yep. Okay. Until next time."

With that, the man lowered the phone and ended the call. As Kirk watched, he returned to the van, this time reemerging with his briefcase again. The man knelt down, setting it down on the pavement and opening it while sitting awkwardly on his knee, as though trying not to wrinkle his suit. The man produced four syringes, each one filled with a sickening green liquid. Kirk felt sick watching, but he couldn't look away as the man walked around the zombies, waiting for them to come to the very end of their leash, and then with surprising speed, he shoved the syringe into their necks and injected the liquid into them. One-by-one, all four of the zombies were injected with what Kirk assumed was "the King formula" that the man mentioned. Each one looked surprised by the shot, lowering their arms and going still. At first, nothing happened, until suddenly they began to tremble. Kirk cried out, nearly puking at the sight of it; their skin began to pulsate, and large bloody skin boils began to form. Some of their limbs began to grow, twisting and contorting in horrifying directions accompanied by a series of grotesque cracking noises.

The man watched it with a blank expression, one of hidden pride and obscured glee. He moved back, stepping away from the larger mutants now, and he called loudly to the mercenaries, "Stay away from the Kings! If they notice you, they may very well attempt to exterminate you." With that, he began walking back into the building. "And keep an eye out for survivors. You know the procedure."

With that, the man with the briefcase disappeared back into the building below. Kirk didn't move, worried that somehow he would make a noise to alert them to his presence. Whatever the procedure was with survivors, he didn't want to know.

Unfortunately, it looked like he was going to find out. Kirk perked up at the sound of something speeding toward them, and looked down the street to see two men in an ATV zooming toward the Kings. The mercenaries noticed too, murmuring amongst themselves as the ones facing the survivors raised their guns. The two men never stood a chance.

Once they were close enough, the mercs opened fire. The zombies in the way were quickly mowed down, and the 4x4 swerved out of control as the driver was hit first, hollering in pain, and the ATV careened off the street onto the sidewalk in a wide arc, turning over onto its side onto the passenger. Kirk watched in terror, unable to help or do anything as the driver laid lifeless in the vehicle while the passenger crawled out, clearly injured. In his hands, he clutched a shotgun, and he looked around like a cornered animal for the source of the gunfire. He never saw them under their zombie disguises, and once they had a clear shot, he was shot down as well.

"...who the fuck is riding around an outbreak in an ATV…?" Kirk heard one of the mercs muttering as he ducked away from the edge of the rooftop and collapsed onto his knees, breathing hard. It was murder. Casual murder of other survivors. Whatever was happening, he had to get out of here before they noticed him.

But how? The fire escape was probably surrounded, and he didn't really want to try to sneak back into the building anyway with that strange man inside. He looked around, and finally saw the answer.

Next door, there was another building. Just a bit shorter than this one, and as Kirk slowly crept over to look over the edge, he could see that the jump between them couldn't have been more than ten feet. Sighing a bit to steady his nerves, trying not to imagine the fall if he missed, Kirk stretched out his legs as he stopped in the middle of the roof.

"...I'm going to fucking die today," he said. He might've began laughing if it wasn't so true.

Taking a deep breath, not even realizing he held it, Kirk took off at a full sprint at the edge. At the very last second, he realized that he should have thrown the axe over _before_ he jumped and silently swore to himself as he put everything he had into jumping.

He let out his breath in one quick _woosh_ as he soared through the air, too overcome with fear to even scream as he watched the rooftop draw nearer, almost there-

"Oof!" he grunted, hitting the very edge and rolling onto his back as he landed, his knees shaking. "Oh jeez… oh God…"

From his jeans, he felt a sudden vibration, and he heard the 8-bit ringtone begin to play. He reached up first to wipe his forehead, gulping anxiously as he reached down and pulled his phone out, seeing Rose's name displayed. He tapped the screen and set the phone to his ear as he gazed up at the sky.

"Kirk?" her voice, sweet and welcome after such a suspenseful moment.

"Hey," he answered, smiling. "I'm still alive."

"I got worried…" she said quietly. "Where are you? Did you find Richard?"

"Not yet," he replied disheartenedly. "Are the others with you?"

"Yeah, Eric's the one who said that I should call-"

"Put me on speaker," Kirk told her, sitting up and climbing to his feet.

"Um, okay. You're on," Rose said after a brief pause.

"Hey Kirk!" Tyler's voice came through, sounding echo-y.

"Did you find him?" Savannah inquired, sounding clear; she must have been putting her face next to the phone.

"I haven't found Richard, but…" Kirk looked back to the street where the mercenaries were still standing guard, and the King zombies were still mutating, forming disgusting, bulging hives on their rapidly decaying skin, "...I think I've found something much worse."

As Kirk explained what he saw, he found the door leading into the building and pushed it open, heading down to the bottom floor while making sure to keep as quiet as he could, in case there was anything else lurking in this building as well. He listened for any sign of life, but was met with total silence.

"...that's horrifying," Eric said after Kirk had finished. "That means that this outbreak was no accident. Whoever they are, they came prepared. Zombie disguises? Machine guns? Something is wrong here."

"So what's he supposed to do?" Savannah asked.

"Kirk, can you get back here?" Eric said after another pause.

Kirk reached the bottom floor and, rather than exit out the front, he went toward the back where he could see another door leading into the alleyway behind the building, "Yeah, I think so."

"We're going to need your help," Eric said.

"Listen, man, here's the plan," Tyler spoke up. "We're going to try to keep going for the Medical Center. The number of zombies in the street has lowered considerably; Savannah's been keeping watch. We're going to move first thing tomorrow morning and we'll need your help to fight our way there."

"Just be back before nightfall!" Eric advised. "Zombies are more aggressive at night."

"Noted," Kirk said, walking through the alleyway and emerging into the street. "I'm on my way."

"Love you," Rose said. "Please get back here safely."

"Count on it," Kirk promised, ending the call and stuffing his phone back into his pocket. He looked down the street in one direction to see a totaled truck that had hit a fire hydrant and then crashed into another vehicle, and in the other direction he could see that the road was filled with cars scattered around, forming a labyrinth where zombies were wandering around.

Suddenly, Kirk felt something crack against the back of his head, sending him falling to the ground as a fierce pain erupted in his skull. He landed on his hands and knees, feeling dizzy, and then two hands appeared from behind, grabbing his mouth and nose and smothering him.

"Sshhh! Go to sleep, go to sleep!" a voice- a man who sounded almost gleeful- whispered in his ear as Kirk struggled to fight, to breathe, but in his condition he was no match for the ambush.

"Jesus, Darren, don't kill the guy," another man said as Kirk began to black out, and the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was the man speaking again. "C'mon. You carry 'im. Follow me."


	9. The Medical Center (Lindsey)

**9**

 **The Medical Center**

As the ATV sped through the streets, Lindsey Connor clenched her baseball bat tightly in her hands. The driver handled the vehicle with ease, expertly maneuvering around large crowds of zombies and cutting through narrow spaces between buildings and parked cars. The man with the shotgun would take aim at any zombie that was in their path, but fired only when it was necessary. Sara cradled Justin where the three were sitting in the back, running her hand through his hair absentmindedly. Lindsey, on the other hand, was watching the two men carefully. After her encounter with the Hunters, she knew that she had to be ready for anything to keep her friends safe.

"We're almost there!" the driver called back to them as he turned a corner.

"Shit, man! Speed up!" the man with the shotgun said, looking behind them. Lindsey followed his gaze, glancing over her shoulder to see zombies piling out of the alleyways to pursue them. "We can't lead them back to the med center!"

"Pierce can take care of them!" the driver replied, but Lindsey could feel the ATV gradually speeding up.

"Not an entire horde! We don't have the ammunition!"

"They _won't_ catch up with us," the driver said, but Lindsey could tell that he was uneasy as they sped toward the Medical Center. Even from here, it was visible, a large structure consisting of tons of reflective windows. Up top, Lindsey could read an illuminated sign: **Haven City Medical Center**. She hadn't realized how dark it was getting until she saw the sign lit up.

The hospital was on the edge of downtown, and as such it was relatively secluded as it had an entire block to itself. A chain link fence was built around the perimeter, and as the ATV slowed down, Lindsey could see the main entrance was largely blocked off by ambulances parked in front of it. There was a group of men standing guard, some of which were standing atop the ambulances themselves, and one man with a rifle stepped forward as the ATV pulled up. Lindsey felt them bounce, and looked over the side into the road to see zombie corpses piled up in the streets, likely shot down by these men.

"We found three more survivors," the driver leaned out to tell the man. The man, Pierce, Lindsey assumed, looked them over, smirking as he lifted his gun over his shoulder.

"The doctor will be glad to hear that," Pierce said, but his eyes widened when he noticed Justin. "Shit, is that one hurt?"

"He was shot," Lindsey said as Sara trembled, clutching Justin tighter without realizing it.

Justin coughed, "So… weak…"

Pierce took a deep breath, looking back at the building nervously, "Well, you'd better hope that Dr. Winslow can do something about that. He's in charge, here. When you get inside, he's set himself up in the office at the end of the hallway."

"Thanks," Lindsey said as the driver pulled up to the doors, and the man left his shotgun in the passenger seat to help Sara lift Justin and carry him inside. Lindsey trailed behind them, her initial misgivings fading away as they entered. Inside were doctors rushing around in white coats and survivors huddled wherever there was room. A couple sat, embracing each other, on a bench next to the entrance and didn't look up as they walked in. The man walked past another of the armed guards who was talking urgently with a doctor.

"-don't know what's going on, but Manchez and Thomas haven't come back from patrol yet-" Lindsey overheard only a bit of their conversation. "-might need to send another squad, could be in danger-"

"-can't risk the manpower-"

The man led them to the end of the crowded, bustling hallway, past rooms where people were lying, injured, or families were gathered together to survive this disaster together. In the middle of it all, a weary-looking, balding man was issuing instructions to teams of doctors, survivors, and guards.

"That's the doctor," the man explained, adjusting his grip on Justin. "Been working hard to keep this place running since the outbreak began. Has all able-bodied men either on patrol or guarding the perimeter, and the women are helping the doctors with the wounded."

"Do you think that this is the only safehouse in Haven City?" Sara asked, hushed.

"I don't know," Lindsey shook her head, "but it's our best chance for him right now. Keeping the living together, that'll be how we survive this."

"She gets it," the man said approvingly as Dr. Winslow's attention finally landed on them, and he hurried over.

"Was he bitten?!" he demanded, directing them into a room with two patient beds. One was empty, which was where the man gently laid Justin down, but there was a man in the other who was clutching his stomach and wheezing softly.

Lindsey helped them get Justin into the bed, and stepped back, pulling Sara with her as the doctor lifted his shirt and peeled off the makeshift duct tape bandage to examine it, "No. He was shot."

"Thank goodness," Dr. Winslow sighed, but then he cast them a sheepish grin. "Sorry. That came out wrong. It's just been very stressful, and I don't know if we can risk having another infected in here. He's lucky."

Justin coughed, his voice still weak, "Don't feel lucky…"

"I'm surprised that your friends could keep you safe out there," Dr. Winslow said, pulling a radio off his belt and muttering some instructions into it, calling for assistance. "Lucky that the bullet didn't permanently damage anything vital. You'll live, but we can't do a full surgery until the quarantine is lifted and we can transport you out of the city. This also, believe it or not, isn't the most severe injury I've seen today, so they might not give you the same urgent care."

A few more doctors hurried into the room, carrying supplies needed to clean and bandage the wound. Justin laid his head back on the pillows; he had been nearly unconscious for hours, and now that he was safe, he was falling into it. Dr. Winslow uttered some medical jargon that Lindsey couldn't follow, and turned away as the doctors got to work.

"We had five cases of dehydration or heat stroke _before_ the outbreak began," Dr. Winslow complained. "People out for the festival who didn't drink enough or people out partying on the beach who didn't think about exposure…" Dr. Winslow ushered them back out into the hallway. "Best to let him rest."

As the man walked back out to his partner, Lindsey looked around, "You have a big operation going on here. Did you lock down as soon as the outbreak started?"

"There are several contingencies in place for a disaster of this magnitude," the doctor nodded. "Always protect the patients. In the event of a zombie outbreak, we are to secure the building and set up as a safehouse for any survivors, though that's come with its own problems…"

"What do you mean?" Sara asked curiously.

Dr. Winslow sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes tiredly with one hand. With the other, he pointed down the hall to where the doors were closed, and several guards were standing with their guns in their hands, "We keep the infected in there. People who were suffering with the zombie virus before the incident, or those who were recently bitten… normally we would give them Zombrex, but there's a problem. Phenotrans understocked us. Normally it wouldn't have been an issue, but with the outbreak and nobody being able to find our reserves, we can't do anything except wait for what little Zombrex we have to run out… and then the inevitable comes."

"Oh God…" Sara whimpered, holding her hands over her mouth. "That's horrible."

"There has to be some way to get Zombrex," Lindsey insisted. "Have your men searched the pharmacy?"

Dr. Winslow nodded solemnly, "They were out too. Probably looted when this all started. I sent a team to the morgue, but they haven't reported in. I fear that the worst has happened to them. It's times like this that the Zombrex chip initiative makes a lot of sense.

"Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of weapons," Dr. Winslow continued, walking down the hall away from the infected. "The men standing guard outside have most of them, and the ones patrolling the streets for more survivors have the rest. I've talked to Pierce, but he says that sending a team of men out searching for Zombrex with our weapons is too dangerous, that it compromises the sanctuary we've managed to keep thus far."

"I'll go," Lindsey said.

"...excuse me?" Dr. Winslow asked after a short pause, turning around and raising an eyebrow.

"I'll go out and find the Zombrex," she repeated.

"Wait, Lindsey-" Sara began.

"Look," Lindsey said, ignoring her. "I'm pretty fast on my feet, and I've made it this far with my baseball bat. Before we got here, I was just worried on getting my friends someplace safe. Now that we're here, I want to help." Before Dr. Winslow could finish thinking and reply, Lindsey quickly added, "And besides. If I don't go- if _nobody_ goes- then all those infected people are going to die."

Dr. Winslow closed his eyes, chuckling, "Well… I can't argue with that." He opened them again, and pointed at the door. "I want you to go talk to Pierce before you go. Maybe he can help you with supplies. Do you know where the morgue is?" Lindsey shook her head. "The closest one is a few blocks away, on Flemming Avenue. It's the Ryker Funeral Home. Big building, you can't miss it. It's across the street from the Chieftain's Hut. You'll have to go through the festival to get there, but they keep Zombrex reserves in there just in case. Not a lot, but there should be enough to last until we can get everyone out of here."

"Got it," Lindsey nodded.

"Stay safe," Sara said, wringing her hands. "And, um, thanks, Lindsey. I don't think Justin or I would have made it here without you."

"Don't thank me until we can get out of here," Lindsey smiled. Sara's eyes welled up with tears, and she held out her arms. Reluctantly, Lindsey stepped forward to hug her coworker as Dr. Winslow pulled up his radio again to talk to Pierce. "I'll be back soon."

Lindsey strolled down the hallway, walking out into the warm summer evening. The men were taking aim at zombies while others were getting ready with fire axes and baseball bats like Lindsey's for the ones that were getting close. The leader, Pierce, was waiting for her when she walked outside.

"You the one that the doctor sent out?" he greeted her with a nod.

"Yeah," said Lindsey, holding her bat over her shoulder. "He said you might be able to help me."

"I don't think that we can spare any guns," Pierce said, glancing over at the men standing guard. "Fortunately, these decaying bastards don't seem to notice the gunfire unless it's right in their faces, but still. I think I can offer you another weapon."

"This bat has worked out pretty well so far."

"Well, we've got some more choices over there," Pierce said, pointing over his shoulder to an area behind the ambulance barricades where a few crates of supplies were stacked up. "Go take a look. If you find something you like, take it with you."

"Thank you," Lindsey said as he turned to rejoin the guards. Curious, she walked over to where he had pointed to find that the options were limited. More fire axes from inside, some baseball bats, some machetes, but it looked like this was mostly construction equipment for the guards to work on fortifying the fence. Hammers, toolboxes with the contents hanging out, contents like nails, tape measurers, duct tape…

It felt as though a lightbulb went off in Lindsey's head as she looked from the toolbox to the weapons, and then she began to grin. She scooped up one of the machetes and plucked the duct tape out of the toolbox. She held her bat and the machete together with one hand and with the other she twisted the tape around it, making sure that it was sturdy before she cut the tape. Now, she was holding a baseball bat-machete hybrid that looked like it could do some serious damage.

 _I think I'll call this… I don't know. The Baseball Slash? Nah. Just the Slasher._

Feeling inspired, Lindsey clutched her Slasher as she headed back out into the Haven City streets. Every moment that she wasted meant that somebody was getting closer to turning into a zombie.

And that was a fate that she would wish on nobody.

Author's Note:

Hope you've enjoyed reading this so far! Unfortunately, I'm going to be putting this fanfic on hiatus until December so that I can do NaNoWriMo.

I have fifteen chapters and an ending planned, but no more progress will be made until November is over.


	10. The Media

**10**

 **The Media**

"Welcome back to the emergency _ZombieWatch_ , available only on Channel 6 Action News! We have been covering the situation in the beachside paradise of Haven City since the crisis began yesterday morning, and we're bringing you the latest information as it develops. This is Herb Frasier, it is now 4 AM, and this just in: we have acquired exclusive shots of the disaster from _inside_ the city limits. We will show them now, but just as a warning, these images may be upsetting to some viewers… We now go to our very own zombie expert, Wade Coopwood, for his analysis on these astonishing pictures! Wade?"

"Thank you, Herb. Uh… as you can see, these pictures depict zombie creatures that appear… heavily mutated. I believe that one has a beehive around its head, likely for producing Queens, which as we all know, are the source of the zombie infection."

"Wade, I understand that it might be difficult to talk about your experience in Fortune City, but would you say that these creatures resemble the mutant zombies that emerged during the Fortune's End Outbreak?"

"...hmm… yeah, I guess in a way, they do, but this is still a different kind of zombie. The mutants in Fortune City resembled the typical zombie in most respects, but this is something else. You can see that their limbs are twisted and extending, and their skin is falling apart. These ones look even more inhuman, and I don't know what kind of mutagen strain could have caused this. Whatever it is, it's familiar, but also much different from what we saw in Fortune City."

"Thank you, Wade! These pictures were submitted to us online by an anonymous source who claims to be trapped _inside_ Haven City. The situation is dire for any survivors still inside, as the United States government has initiated the Willamette Act, effectively blocking off the city and cutting off any route in or out of Haven City. Rumors are also spreading that the military is not enforcing a recent amendment allowing for survivors to escape through an official military checkpoint that would allow uninfected civilians to exit the quarantine zone after a short examination. Another source close to the military strike team that will be entering the city tomorrow claimed that Senator Sonya Paddock gave the order to seal off the city. We have reached out to Paddock, but she has not responded at this time.

"We now go live to our field reporter Jamie Reynolds, who is coming to us live from just outside the quarantine zone. Jamie, what can you tell us about the outbreak?"

"Well, Herb, as you can see behind me, the military wasted no time in setting up a wall and blocking off the highway until the outbreak has been dealt with. I can also confirm that the rumors of _no_ checkpoints or exits for any uninfected survivors are _true._ As you can see behind me, a mob of protesters is demanding to know what is happening to their loved ones that are trapped inside Haven City. Ma'am! Excuse me, Ma'am! We're with Channel 6 Action News, and I was wondering if you could tell us what you think about all of this?"

"What do I think?! I think that it's ridiculous! The cities get more money to build the damn safehouses and _we_ get a tax hike to pay for it, _then_ they keep the money and demand Congress to establish military checkpoints instead of forcin' them to build safehouses, and _now_ they don't even open the [censored] checkpoints! The government is taking us all for a ride here! How do they expect me to sit down while they lock my grandson in a zombie outbreak?!"

"Alright, thank you, ma'am, for your opinion-"

"I ain't finished! We know that Phenotrans was behind that whole thing in Fortune City and the government armed the terrorist in Willamette!"

"Actually, neither of those claims have been proven-"

"Yes they have! Frank West says so! You're a reporter, ain'tcha?! Who would _you_ believe? The government covering their own [censored], or a man who was actually there and took the pictures that exposed them for the lying [censored] they are?! Far as I'm concerned, men like Frank West are the ones who oughta be tellin' us what's what!"

"Alright, _thank you_ , ma'am! Ahem… we have received word that a medical center downtown has established themselves as a makeshift safehouse. If any survivors inside Haven City are listening to this broadcast, I urge them to seek shelter at the medical center until help arrives-!"

"Oh, so _now_ they're makin' the _hospitals_ into safehouses?!"

"Ma'am, please-!"

"Haha, thank you, Jamie! Right now, this incident has reignited the debate for mandatory Zombrex chipping due to dwindling supplies of the zombie parasite suppressant being blamed for starting not only the Haven City Outbreak, but numerous other incidents since the drug was developed shortly before the Las Vegas Outbreak. One notable individual in the argument is General John Hemlock, who recently called on Congress to make it illegal to refuse a Zombrex chip. This is an excerpt of what he said during a press conference yesterday evening."

" _The time has long come for these cowards to end the threat of the zombie menace! Zombrex chips are safe, they have been tested and confirmed to be perfectly safe and far more effective than the Zombrex shots! It should be illegal for our government to refuse to guarantee the safety of its citizens like this!_ "

"General Hemlock's comments have hit hard with several representatives, with some from Colorado, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Minnesota all coming forward in the wake of this incident and announcing their support for legislature pushing for mandatory Zombrex chip implants inside infected citizens registered with the ZDC's official zombie infection registry.

"Whatever comes next, our hearts go out to anyone affected by this massive outbreak. The death toll is calculated to be in the thousands, nearly on the scale of the likes of Willamette, Las Vegas, and Fortune City. To anyone who has lost a loved one in Haven City, we here at Channel 6 Action News send out our deepest condolences. For _ZombieWatch_ , I'm Herb Frasier. More on this story as it develops."


	11. You Gotta Be Willing To Risk It(Kirk)

11

You Gotta Be Willing To Risk It All

"Here, drag 'im over here…"

Kirk was dizzy. In his thick haze, he was only faintly aware of the men dragging him by the arms while his feet trailed along… was it sand…?

"He's waking up!"

"I can see that, Darren! Just throw him down there, the zombies are comin'."

"Oof!" Kirk grunted as the men threw him onto his stomach. Somewhere close behind him, he could hear the waves lapping against the shore. Groaning, he rolled onto his back as the sound of feet shuffling away through the shifting sand grew more distant. Around him, he could hear the guttural moans of zombies, and opened his eyes to look up at the starry night sky. "What the hell…?"

His head felt like someone had used it as a maraca. Kirk slowly sat up to look around, his eyes shooting open when he saw the zombies limping closer all around.

"Gaahh!" he hollered, quickly crawling backwards until his bare back touched water. Confused, he glanced back. "Huh?"

"Better get up quick! The other zombies wanna meetcha!" a man shouted. Now wide awake, fueled by adrenaline, Kirk staggered to his feet and looked down, startled to find himself wearing nothing but his dark blue boxer shorts.

 _Wait, where are my clothes?!_ Kirk panicked, feeling a chilly breeze. _Or my weapons, for that matter?!_

A wave nipped at his heels, and he looked back to find the sea, with dark waters illuminated by a gentle moonlight. Over the horizon was a large military ship, but as Kirk looked closer, there were multiple, all lining the water and watching the beach.

As Kirk turned back to look in front of him, a zombie lunged with outstretched arms, wrapping them around his neck. Kirk cried out, reaching up and grabbing the zombie's face just before it could bite down, and he struggled against it as it fought to get to his skin. The zombie roared in his face, until he shoved it away with all of his strength, feeling its grip loosen, but its nails scraping his shoulders as it was pushed away, leaving large scratches on either side of his neck.

" _Shit!_ " Kirk yelled, looking around to see more of them were closing in. Behind the waves of zombies, at a safe distance behind a wooden post and rail fence at the edge of the sandy beach, were the three men who had ambushed him, laughing as he realized how dire the situation was for the first time. The beach was crowded with the people who were unlucky enough to have been caught relaxing with nowhere to run when the outbreak began. Fortunately, that meant that their things were still here. Beach towels, parasols, coolers, all of the essential beach equipment was scattered around in the sand.

"Quit fightin' it!" one of the men yelled as Kirk lifted his leg to kick a zombie away, cringing at the feeling of dead skin against his bare foot as the zombie flew backwards onto its back and he quickly stepped over it to run away.

Meanwhile, another of the men laughed, "Run, boy! Run!"

"You crazy bastards!" Kirk shouted, kneeling down to grab a cooler, tripping a bit when he found it was heavier than he'd been anticipating. Once he'd adjusted his grip, he turned and swung, knocking away another zombie. He leaned into it and swung the cooler back, throwing another zombie into the sand. He held the momentum, lifting the cooler up into the air and slamming it down on the zombie's head, smashing it and killing the thing immediately. "Where's my stuff?!"

The loud _crack_ of a gunshot was his response, and Kirk instinctively threw himself to the ground as the bullet missed and hit a zombie, dropping it. Kirk risked a look back, and noticed that one of the zombies wasn't wearing a bathing suit; it looked like he'd been stripped as well. Eyes widening, Kirk surveyed the beach, finding three more men and two women in similar states. He wasn't the first one they'd taken like this and fed to the zombies. He was far from the first.

"Dammit, Cal! Don't shoot 'im! Let the zombies do it!" he could hear the men fighting.

"But Paul, he's gonna get away!" Cal protested as Paul pushed the gun up, and Kirk took advantage of the distraction to jump back to his feet, scrambling across the sand and scooping up a folding beach chair as he charged at the men. "I'm not letting another zombie lover escape!"

"Shit, look out-!" Darren interrupted with a shout, silencing Paul and Cal as Kirk heaved the chair at the three men. Paul and Darren were able to dodge, but one of the wooden chair legs clipped Cal's forehead and he fell to the ground. His gun flew from his hand. Paul hastily ran to put distance between him and Kirk, while Darren scrambled to grab his own handgun from a holster on his hip. "You filthy zombie lover! We should've left you on the street with the rest of 'em!"

"Dude, you've got some serious issues!" Kirk shot back, hopping the fence and landing with his knee on Cal's stomach, causing the man to gasp and then wheeze, clutching his belly as Kirk grabbed the gun and aimed at Darren, squeezing the trigger. Darren swore, ducking and running as the bullets cut over his shoulder, barely missing. An arrow flew by Kirk's face, and he looked back in horror to see Paul aiming a crossbow, readying the next shot. Kirk ducked, pointing the gun at Paul and firing a shot to break his concentration. Both he and Darren were going toward the visitor center building at the front of the beach, where Kirk could see signs for bathrooms, changing rooms, and a small café.

"Raaaagh!" Cal exclaimed, pouncing at Kirk and grabbing at the gun. Kirk tightened his grip, fighting back, and the gun fired without him meaning to pull the trigger. Cal's furious expression turned to one of cold horror, and then he slumped down into the sand. The front of his shirt was quickly becoming stained red with blood.

" _You killed Cal!_ " Darren shouted, pulling up his gun and firing wildly in Kirk's direction. Kirk threw himself down again, noticing his jacket hanging over the fence. Staying low to avoid the gunfire, he pulled it off, finding the rest of his clothes underneath, as well as his fire axe. Down, thrown over the wooden rail, he could see other piles of clothes from their previous victims on display like sick trophies.

Behind him, Darren swore as he tried to reload, only to end up dropping the next clip for his handgun. Kirk gathered his things as fast as he could, grabbing the axe last and taking off into a run down the beach, leaving a dead man and the two other Hunters in his wake. He looked back to find that they weren't chasing him, instead hurrying to tend to their fallen friend. Breathing heavily as the full scope of what had just happened all hit him at once, Kirk forced himself to run faster, breaking away from the beach and heading back toward downtown.

Kirk sprinted across what would have been a busy street separating the beach from a shoreline of stores, hurrying into an empty frozen yogurt restaurant. Outside, there were zombies scattered around, but they didn't seem to be paying him much attention as he closed the door behind him. Beyond a small sitting area with tables and chairs, there was a small food preparation area of humming frozen yogurt machines and a long counter full of toppings leading toward a cash register with a small scale next to it. Kirk remembered taking Rose to a place like this once where they charged based on weight. It was the most expensive fro-yo he'd ever bought.

Kirk collapsed into one of the chairs, glancing out the window into the night. It was a miracle that the streetlights were still on, basking the Haven City streets in a warm orangish glow. He'd heard somewhere that the military kept the power on in quarantined areas during an outbreak, and so far it looked like it was true.

He could feel sweat trickling down his face as he dumped his clothes onto the floor in front of him, setting the fire axe on the table, and began to get dressed. As he pulled up his pants, visions of the gun's barrel exploding in a flash of light and Cal's head limply bouncing against the sand flashed through his mind. It suddenly felt very warm in this place. Did it count as a restaurant? Or was it a parlor?

 _I just killed a man,_ Kirk realized, feeling a knot in his stomach.

 _By accident,_ he told himself. _He was trying to kill me._

 _And besides,_ he looked out the window, where a zombie was staggering underneath a streetlight on the other side of the street. _I've killed before. Don't they count as people?_

 _Not anymore_ , the zombie turned around, scanning the area with a low growl, its eyes glowing red. _They aren't people anymore._

 _But_ he _was._

As Kirk slipped on his jacket, he could feel his phone in his pocket, like a weight. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he slipped it out and tapped the button, watching as the screen lit up to see that he had no less than fifteen missed calls from Rose.

 _Oh shit._

His heart pounding, Kirk tapped the CALL BACK button and held the phone up to his ear. It rang once. Twice. Before it could ring a third time, Rose answered.

"Kirk?!" she cried breathlessly. "Oh my God, Kirk?!"

"Hey," he said, feeling himself smile at the sound of her voice. "I'm still alive."

" _Where have you been_ \- hang on, I'm putting you on speaker-" there was a shuffling sound, and then Rose's voice echoed through his phone. "Where were you?! I called and called, but you never answered! I thought you were dead!"

"I almost was," he said, licking his lips. They felt really dry. "I think… I think I got ambushed. I woke up on a beach, and there were these guys trying to feed me to some zombies…"

"You what?!" Rose exclaimed.

"Kirk, where are those men?" Eric asked, his voice sounding more distant, but still clear enough to hear.

"I don't know. I managed to get away…" he closed his eyes, remembering the blood. So much blood staining the front of that man's shirt. "Look, are you still hiding in the armory?"

"You mean this crappy little weaponless outlet store?" Tyler interrupted. "Yeah, man. We're still here."

"I'm on my way. We can still move to the Medical Center in the morning," Kirk said.

"No way," Eric said, and Kirk could visualize him shaking his head. "It's too dangerous! The zombies, they're more aggressive at night."

"I'll be fine," Kirk dismissed.

"Hey, man, we can wait," Savannah chimed in.

"I already thought that I lost you once," Rose said softly. "We're all willing to wait for you for as long as it takes, as long as you're safe."

"None of us are safe!" Kirk argued. "Look, the advice that they always give for an outbreak is to find a safehouse. That place could last, but we don't have the supplies for it to be for very long, and even then the Medical Center must be the main safehouse in the city. When the military moves in, they'll go there first. We _have_ to be there."

"Well, I can't stop you," Tyler said after a brief pause. "If you really think that you can make it back, Kirk, come on back. If you get into trouble, please just lay low, man."

"I will. I promise," Kirk said as Rose took the phone off speaker.

"Promise me that you'll be safe?" Rose asked in a hushed tone.

"I will," Kirk vowed, nodding. "I'll get back to you, no matter what… and hey. I love you."

Rose giggled, "I love you too. See you when you get back."

"See ya," Kirk said, grinning as he hung up the phone and stood up, slipping it back into his pocket. He looked to the door, trying to map the downtown area in his mind. If he remembered correctly from the first day of their vacation when they'd arrived, driving alongside the beach on their way to the hotel that he had, of course, paid for the week in advance, then this place was on a street that was close to the armory. He would have to cross that busy street where they'd lost Richard earlier, the same place that they'd seen the mutated zombie, but it seemed like his best bet.

A few minutes later, Kirk emerged from the store with his axe in one hand and a small cup of strawberry froyo in the other. At the sound of the door closing, a few zombies perked up, snarling, and began moving toward him with surprising speed. Kirk, however, was still much faster than the zombies, taking a moment to lick his treat before he took off down the road, easily sidestepping the first few zombies.

 _So far so good,_ he thought to himself with a smirk. The frozen yogurt was a lot like just getting ice cream, but the taste definitely wasn't worth the cost. The next street was almost empty, which rose some of Kirk's suspicions. They didn't just disappear… all of them must have gone somewhere…

He was about halfway back when he turned down another street and finally saw where all of the zombies had gone. This street was filled with the things, all piling up against a storefront where Kirk could hear shouting and gunfire. The zombies closest to the front door were mowed down in a spray of blood and bullets, but for each that fell, more replaced them. Kirk hurried forward, dropping the froyo to the ground as he took his axe in both hands, but he came to a screeching halt and gasped when he saw the survivor with the gun stumble out of the store. At first, he'd thought that it was somebody in trouble, but to his immense surprise, it was one of the men from the testing site earlier. His zombie mask made him difficult to pick out in the crowd, but none of the other zombies were carrying assault rifles like that.

"You want some, motherfuckers?! Come and get me!" the man shouted, not yet noticing Kirk as he watched in amazement. Who were these men? What were they doing in Haven City?

The man tried pushing through the crowd, but even with his body armor, there was no way that he could overpower the horde surrounding him. As he shoved group of zombies away, another jumped on his back. He howled in pain, falling to the ground as the rest of the mob followed him, blocking Kirk's view of the Disguised Zombie Merc as his gun fired, sending more guts flying, until it fell silent under the sound of zombies hungry for their next meal.

Swallowing hard, Kirk lowered his axe and ran for the end of the street while the zombies were distracted. A few noticed him, but he was quick enough to slip by before any of them could do anything.

 _Jeez… every zombie in the area must have gone for him…_ Kirk thought to himself, emerging on another empty street. He still had plenty of questions, but the top of the armory came into view over a pair of other buildings. The way there seemed clear enough for one final stretch, and Kirk was more than ready to run until he could get back.

* * *

Rose waited faithfully by the backdoor, the same way that Kirk had left earlier. So far, she'd had to duck out of view of a few walkers that had staggered back through the alleyway, but right now it was deserted. A perfect welcome after the zombie-infested hellscape that Kirk had volunteered to run through.

It was rough, she thought, sitting against the wall and watching out the window at the fascinating sight of the building next door. She had grown up in Haven City. She'd spent some of her most precious childhood years here, and now the place was in shambles. Rose had heard about how depressing it was to go back home to see how everything had changed, but this was something else. She'd imagined that her favorite bakery would have been closed down or something, but instead it was filled with the undead. Part of her hoped that Haven City would escape the fates of the other major cities that had fallen to the zombie infection, but part of her privately wished that the place would be destroyed.

It was better for it to be gone than for her to see it like this.

I'm sorry that I brought us here, Kirk… she thought, gazing down at the floor as her eyes grew misty. I'm sorry… we should have stayed in Marwind Heights… anywhere but here…

There was a sudden flash of movement outside the door. Rose gasped, and wiped her eyes, quickly rising to open the door. Kirk pushed it open and hurried inside, breathing hard. Rose was so overcome with relief at the sight of her boyfriend that she had jumped into his arms before the door even closed. Kirk was caught off-guard, but he returned the embrace, squeezing her tightly. She always liked it when he did that; it made her feel like he wanted her close.

"You're back!" Eric exclaimed as the others were jerked out of their thoughts back to reality.

Tyler grinned, "Well, it's about damn time. Glad to see that you're alright."

"Just barely," Kirk sighed. Rose now realized for the first time that her boyfriend was clutching a fire axe, the blade splattered in gore. As sickening as the sight and the implications were, she couldn't help but think that it made him look kind of badass. "It's chaos out there. Those zombie experiments… those men who brought me to the beach… I'm starting to think that leaving here might not be a good idea, but getting to that Medical Center definitely is."

"Alright, so we've actually been working on a plan to get there in one piece," Eric explained, gesturing to the counter. Where a cashier might once have taken money, now a collection of weaponry was on display. "We looked around here and ended up finding a basement. No guns down there, of course, but we found the stuff to make this-" here, he seemed almost excited, picking up a broom handle with a small 2x4 where the broom should have been, and instead of the bristles, a bunch of nails were hammered in. "See? Innovation at its finest!"

"He offered to make something for me," Savannah rolled her eyes, motioning to a sledgehammer sitting beside it, "but I told him I would just stick with that."

"Eric found that one for me too," Rose pointed out a long metal flashlight, the kind that a security guard would use that doubled as a club.

"And he helped me add a bit more power to my swing," Tyler smirked, holding out his baseball bat to show Kirk that one side had been filled with nails. "Anyway, get some rest, man. We're heading out as soon as the sun comes up."

"Right," Eric said as Kirk nodded wearily and headed into the back room with Rose, looking around at the others. "That goes for all of us. I'll keep watch. Tomorrow, we'll head for the Medical Center."

* * *

As the sun rose over the lifeless Haven City, and the aggressive zombies began to settle down as their glowing eyes dimmed, the second day of the outbreak began. The zombies continued their endless shuffling outside, looking disturbingly similar to a crowd of people enjoying what should have been one of the last days of the city's summer festival. Tyler peered out the window, careful to stay low so he wouldn't be noticed by any of the walkers, but fortunately it looked so far that the streets were as clear as they would ever be.

"Looks like most of 'em are heading toward the beach," Tyler said, turning around to face the eager group of survivors. "Kirk must've caused one hell of a mess over there. But I still think that we're gonna have to fight our way to the Medical Center."

"What if this doesn't even work?" Savannah asked. "What if the hospital is already overrun with them?"

Eric and Kirk exchanged an anxious look before Eric shrugged, "I think that we have a good chance if we make it there, but worst case scenario… I guess we could either come back here or find another place to lay low. Maybe even start heading for the military barricade so that we might be able to get out."

"Whatever happens, we have to stay together," Kirk said. "If we do that, then it'll be easier to deal with whatever happens."

"Exactly," Eric agreed. "Okay, so I guess… Kirk and I will lead the way. Savannah and Rose will be right behind us, and Tyler will watch our backs. Remember, stay away from the hordes, move quickly, and only attack the ones that are in our way. We can't waste any time, this has to be fast."

"Oh God, this is getting tense," Rose sighed, clutching her flashlight.

"Just stay calm," Kirk advised soothingly, putting his arm around his girlfriend. He was suddenly aware that all eyes were on him. "That's the most important thing when you're out there. Keeping a cool head, y'know? Everyone wants to panic when they're surrounded, but the zombies… we can outsmart them. We just have to stay calm."

"Okay. Everyone ready?" Tyler said, walking to the door and putting his hand on it, ready to push it open. There were nods all around as everyone got their weapons ready. "Alright. Eric, you know the way?"

"Of course," Eric nodded. "Only a few blocks."

"Got it," Tyler took a deep breath, tightening his grip on the door. "Ready? Okay, three… two… one… _go!_ "

With the last word, Tyler threw the door open and held it while Eric and Kirk charged out, the girls following close behind as Tyler ditched the door and broke into a run after them. The zombies on the street were taken by surprise by the sudden appearance of survivors, and didn't have time to stagger after them before they were already out of reach. This area was slowly filling up with zombies, but for the most part, they were able to avoid them.

"So far, so good!" Eric said, leading them down another road. Up ahead, they could see that the mob of zombies was significantly thicker. "Ah, shit…"

"We can get around them!" Kirk yelled, leading them toward a small opening on the side of the mob. A few zombies began to take notice of them and began moving in. Eric raised his nail sweeper like a pitchfork and jammed it into one of the zombies' heads as they drew near, and the other was swiftly pushed away by Savannah's sledgehammer. A shifting tide made its way through the zombie crowd as the group started pushing past, hurrying to slip past, stuck between a building and a wall of zombies that was now moving in.

"Guess we found out where they all went!" Tyler remarked, swinging his bat in a wide arc and pushing a few of them away, but more pushed through. "Fuck!"

"Come on! I can see an opening just through here!" Eric hollered as the others hastened to follow, emerging from the slim path just as the wave of zombies crashed against where they'd come from. There was no going back now.

"Wait, this isn't an opening!" Kirk gasped when he saw a horde- much bigger than the group they'd just ran past- up ahead, trapping them on a small line of empty street between the two waves. "Shit! What now?!"

"Where did all of them come from?!" Rose shrieked.

Eric looked around in a panic as the zombies, groaning as they came, moved in from both directions. A concrete wall on one side, and on the other, a small convenience store. "Look for a door! A window to break! Anything to get out of here!"

" _Hey!_ " there was a distant shouting, but over the zombie moans, the call went unnoticed.

"The manhole!" Savannah yelped, pointing down at a sewer cover in the middle of the street. "It's our only chance!"

"Tyler, help me with this!" Eric said, getting down to pull the cover up.

"We can't lift that!" Tyler shot back, but knelt down to help lift anyway. Though the two men struggled, it didn't budge. "Dammit! We're fucked!"

" _HEY!_ " the shouting again. Kirk looked up in time to see an ATV cutting through the mob of zombies, and cried out in surprise.

"Look!" he said as the others followed his gaze. The ATV flew out of the horde and swerved, coming to a stop beside the group.

There were two men up front: the driver, who was panicking and looking around in every direction, and another man with a gun who leaned out and waved his hand at the group, "Come on! Get in! Hurry!"

"Go! Go! Go!" Tyler yelled as they hurried toward the ATV, with Eric and Savannah hopping into the two seats in the back and with Tyler hopping into the back. Kirk climbed up, reaching back to help Rose in. Rose put her foot up with Kirk clutching her hand, and tried to climb, but her foot slipped and she fell back down.

" _Kirk!_ " she screamed as the mob closed in around her.

In a blind panic, Kirk hauled back on her arm, lifting her into the air and pulling her into the ATV, but before she could fall in, he felt a sharp yank on her other arm. With his eyes widening in horror, he could see a zombie behind her, holding her arm and opening its mouth in a snarl.

" _Noooooo!_ " he heard himself yelling as the zombie lunged at Rose's arm. Her shriek drowned out the sounds of moaning around them as the zombie bit into her skin with decaying teeth, and Kirk could feel her body go rigid. "ROSE! NO!"

"Fuck!" Tyler swore, swinging his bat up and then down, missing Rose by inches and connecting with the zombie's head with so much force that the bat was pulled from his grip as the zombie slumped over, the nails impaled in its head. Kirk hauled Rose into the ATV, breathing hard as he saw the blood streaming down her arm from the bite in the same way that tears were trickling down her face now. " _Drive, dammit!_ "

The tires screeched as the ATV took off with a jolt, slamming into the mob and cutting through with surprising efficiency, allowing them to emerge on the other side of the horde and begin charging toward freedom.

"No," Kirk felt distant as he looked at his wounded girlfriend. Dazed, like he could wake up at any moment from this nightmare. "No, no, _no…_ "

"K...Kirk…?" Rose whimpered, going limp against him. "What… what's going to happen…?"

"Thank God we saw you!" the man with the driver yelled back to the survivors. "This horde formed earlier! We've been trying to keep 'em away from the Medical Center, but it feels like just more and more keep coming."

"You're with the Medical Center safehouse?!" Eric asked eagerly. "Thanks for that save back there! We were trying to get there when we ran into them!"

"We need Zombrex," Kirk suddenly realized, and he shouted up ahead. " _Zombrex!_ Do you have any Zombrex?! She's been bitten!"

"Oh my God!" Savannah cried, looking back at the pale Rose.

The driver looked back in astonishment as the Medical Center came into view up ahead. Although it was lighter out now, the sign above the doors was still illuminated, glowing softly in the early morning sunlight. Haven City Medical Center. The man looked back, bewildered at the sight of the bleeding girl, "Shit, really? Fuck… Dr. Winslow should know what to do. She'll probably have to be put with the other infected survivors…"

A group of men with guns waited at the edge of the Medical Center parking lot to greet the group as the ATV slowed, entering the safe zone within the fence around the place. Kirk hugged Rose, feeling his heart pounding in his chest as she dizzily looked at her arm.

"Shit," Savannah said, looking at Rose's bite with a disgusted fascination. "So what are we supposed to do about that?"

"Come on, sweetness," Kirk said as the ATV stopped, and a man with a rifle slung over his shoulder and a smirk across his face stepped up to greet the driver.

"'Sup, fellas," Pierce greeted them. "How's it coming along with that horde?"

"We managed to slow them down, but…" the driver sighed, nodding back at the group. "We found some more survivors."

"Jesus. Just can't help yourselves, can you? Hope none of them are like that last boy…" Pierce gave them a once-over, but did a double take when he caught sight of Rose. "What's with her?"

"She's, uh…" the driver trailed off.

"Bitten," Eric finished solemnly.

"...fuck," Pierce looked down thoughtfully. "I mean… jeez, man. I don't know if it'd be more merciful to turn her away…"

"Please," Kirk spoke up, looking at the man pleadingly. "This is a hospital, right? You must have some Zombrex. I can't… I can't let her turn..."

"Okay, okay, listen," Pierce said, holding his arms up. "We're having a little… problem with our infected. You… if you really wanna, you can go inside and talk to the doctor."

Pierce waved them inside, and the driver pulled ahead, up to the double doors that led inside. Eric and Savannah stood by the doors, watching as Kirk and Tyler helped Rose shakily climb out, and then begin walking toward the entrance. Kirk put his arm around her to hold her steady, but she seemed to be doing alright so far.

"Let's go find the doc," the man who was in the passenger seat said, holding the door open and ushering them inside.

Inside the safehouse was a scene of awakening chaos. Beside the door, a couple was sitting on a bench. The girl was sobbing, her face buried in her hands, while the boyfriend held her and whispered soothing things. Staff and volunteers scattered around, but for the most part, people were left to sit around and wait for help. The hallway stretched on until at the end, Kirk could see a series of rooms that were guarded by a few people with guns who were watching the people inside suspiciously. He gulped nervously, already having an idea of who was in there.

"Dr. Winslow, he's the leader around here," the man explained, escorting them to a room toward the back, not yet with the rooms that were guarded, but close. The man peeked inside one room, nodding and stepping inside when he caught sight of a balding man in a white coat standing over a boy lying on the cot inside. A blonde girl sat in a chair, holding the boy's hand, and as he entered, Kirk could see that the boy's shirt was pulled up and a heavy bandage was placed on the side of his stomach.

The doctor heard them enter, and turned to face them, his face lighting up when he saw the group, "Oh! More survivors, I see. Well, please make yourselves comfortable-"

"Doctor, uh… one of them is…" the man said, gesturing to Rose. Dr. Winslow looked to her, puzzled, and gasped when he saw her bite.

"When did this happen?" he asked fearfully.

"Just now…" Rose said softly.

Kirk cleared his throat, "Please, do you have any Zombrex? There's still time…"

"I'm sorry," Dr. Winslow shook his head. "Oh, I'm so sorry… we just administered the last of our supply in one final dosage to the infected that we already have, and even then I don't think that we had enough for all of them. Right now, we're just waiting for the inevitable."

"You've got to be kidding," Kirk said, hearing his voice crack as Rose began to sob. "This is a hospital, isn't it? You've got to have some Zombrex somewhere!"

"I'm sorry," Dr. Winslow apologized again, taking off his glasses to rub his eyes. "Our last shipment didn't come in, and there was a problem with our inventory, so our stock was dwindling when the outbreak began."

"Listen… please, there has to be something that I can do," Kirk pleaded. Something in his tone must have been sincere enough, because Dr. Winslow sighed, sliding his glasses back into place. Back in the room, the blonde girl perked up, listening to them talk.

"If you really mean that…" he paused. "Uh, there is one option left."

"Do you mean Lindsey?" the girl asked. Dr. Winslow chuckled, nodding.

"Yes," he looked to Kirk. "You see, last night these two arrived-" he gestured to the girl and the injured boy, "-with another girl, who volunteered to go back out into the city and find Zombrex. I sent her to the Ryker Funeral Home, but she's been out all night and hasn't returned yet. If you can find Lindsey, or at least bring back Zombrex, then you could save her and all of our infected."

"The… the funeral home. Okay, got it…" Kirk said, feeling a surge of energy. There was a chance, there was hope, "...I don't know where that is."

"I do," Tyler said. "I'll come with you."

"What?" Kirk whirled around. "You can't. If this chick already disappeared, it's gonna be dangerous."

"Well, I saved your ass at the very beginning of this thing!" Tyler said indignantly.

Dr. Winslow interrupted, "If you're going to go, please hurry. The infected who turned down the Zombrex so that the others could live… they don't have a lot of time left. And when anyone turns in here, the guards are under orders to shoot."

Kirk turned to begin heading down the hall, back toward the exit, when he felt Tyler grab his shoulder, "I'm not gonna let you do this alone."

"Tyler, listen," Kirk said, looking back at him. "You saw that horde out there. I've been out there, I've gotten this far, I can do this. I don't want anyone else to get hurt, and… and if I don't come back, I want you here to watch her. Take care of her, find Zombrex however you can, just… I need to know that she'll be okay."

Tyler hesitated, and then released his grip on Kirk's shoulder, "Okay… I guess you're right. You got it."

"And, hey, here," Eric said, stepping forward and holding out his nail broom to Kirk. "Take this with you. You'll need whatever you can get, and it isn't like we need it in here."

Kirk smiled, gratefully accepting the Nail Sweeper. "Thanks, man. I'll be back before she turns. I promise."

"Sir? Hang on, sir!" the blonde girl from the room peeked around the edge, and now shyly stepped out into view. "You're going to find Lindsey, right? Well, uh, when you do, can you tell her that the doctor says Justin is going to be okay?" She shifted her weight on her feet. "And… tell her that Sara is worried about her."

Kirk nodded, "I'll be sure to tell her. Tyler, I'll need directions to that morgue. There's no time to waste if I'm going to save Rose."


	12. Consume (Lindsey)

**12**

 **Consume**

Lindsey Connor moved through the Haven City streets confidently, swinging her machete as she slipped past or cut through every zombie in her path to the Ryker Funeral Home. She was a girl on a mission, and nothing would stand in her way. That thought was what pushed her onward as the sun began to fall over the horizon, but slowly she began to realize that something was wrong.

As she emerged from where the festival had been and night began to fall, the zombies started moving faster, attacking stronger. Lindsey didn't realize how much trouble she was in until she could see their eyes glowing with a ferocious red.

Now that she'd finally reached Flemming Avenue, she was too close to the morgue to turn back now. Worst case scenario, she could wait out the night inside. All that she had to do now was find it.

"Where did they say that the damn place was?" she muttered to herself, swinging her Slasher with the bat end, knocking a zombie aside as she twisted the machete end into another one, dropping it to the street. More and more zombies were closing in around her. "Crap! Gotta move…!"

Zombies snarled around her, and in the shadows cast by the streetlights, she could see more of their shapes moving toward her. Lindsey was breathing heavily; during her time on the track team, she'd done a lot of running, but today was a whole new level.

Up ahead, she caught sight of a Chieftain's Hut knickknack store, full of Native American memorabilia. With a little gasp, remembering that Dr. Winslow had mentioned the place, she turned her gaze to the other side of the street, and opposite of the Hut was a large white building. In front was a sign where, in cursive, she could see the words " _Ryker Funeral Home_ ".

"That's it!" she exclaimed, hurrying forward with newfound resolve. The zombies shuffled after her, and at this point she was so tired that some of them were actually gaining on her. She heard footsteps scraping against the pavement, and turned while swinging the Slasher in a wide arc, decapitating a zombie that was mere feet away from grabbing her. "Get off me!"

A series of groans were the only reply as she dashed toward the doors, hurrying up the walk to the oddly normal-looking funeral home. When she thought of a morgue, she always imagined some dark and sinister building, but this one could very well have been a vet's office. Still, it was significantly less peaceful when there were troves of the walking dead outside. Lindsey ran for the door, feeling her stomach drop once she realized that there was a very real possibility of the door being locked, but when she reached the door and pulled, it swung open easily. A draught of cold air washed over her as she threw herself inside, frantically yanking the door shut behind her as a zombie groaned, reaching out, but too late as the door heavily slammed shut.

Immediately, there was a stark contrast between the hectic streets outside and the eerie atmosphere inside the morgue. It was quiet, as was to be expected within a house of the deceased, but this was an unsettling silence. It wasn't the sound of peace, it was the sound of desolation, the echoes of people who had been here that had abandoned the place. Or worse, they were still here, in some form.

The foyer was normal enough, decorated to look like a home. Probably to soothe the mourning rather than the mourned. Beyond this little entrance area, Lindsey could see a doorway and then a hallway leading out of the light into darkness. She slowly began heading toward the hall, taking a moment to peer through the open doors. It led to a beautiful sunlit viewing hall, with rows of chairs arranged on each side of a casket. The casket was open, but there was nothing inside. Just inside the door was a portrait of the deceased, a man with a wide smile. His funeral must have been scheduled for sometime after the outbreak started.

Lindsey slowly began moving toward the hallway, spying a heavy metallic door at the end. The morgue, Lindsey realized. She had to find the Zombrex fast and get back to the Medical Center if the infected survivors stood a chance.

She gripped the handle and pulled the door open slowly, bracing herself for a zombie to charge out. A shiver went down her back when she heard something startle in the darkness before going silent. Lindsey ran her hand along the wall, finding a small light switch and flicking it on.

Lindsey wasn't sure exactly what it was that she was expecting to see, but the grisly sight ahead wasn't it. She gasped, falling back at the sight of the body on the table ahead. It had been unceremoniously shoved on top, simply laid on top of the operating equipment rather than attached to it, as if some novice had placed it there. The man was wearing a suit, but the jacket and shirt had been tore open, as had his stomach; ribs poked up out of the gaping hole in his flesh. Lindsey moved shakily forward, thinking for a moment that this was part of the standard procedure, that this was how morticians worked, but when she saw the man's face, she froze. It was the same man as the portrait, the one that was supposed to be in the casket. Whatever they'd done to the body, it had been effective; he would have looked alive if not for the gruesome hole.

"What the hell…?" Lindsey murmured, hearing something rustle behind her. A shock ran through her body, moving her to action against this unknown threat, but suddenly she felt two hands grab her face, one of them pressing a damp rag over her nose.

"Shh! Shh!" a girl giggled behind her. "Not so loud! You'll wake the zombies! Ehehehe!"

Lindsey opened her mouth to scream, but all that she got was an overpowering chemical smell. Her vision went dark, and she felt her consciousness start to slip away from her body, squeezing through a pinhole into oblivion.

"Shh, shh," the girl said, dropping Lindsey to the floor. The last thing that Lindsey saw before she passed out was the girl's pale skin as she knelt down over Lindsey to peer at her through wide eyes. Her lips were stretched in an unnatural smile, and her red lipstick seemed smeared all over her cheeks. "Sleep. Like you're dead. But you'll get up."

Darkness.

"They always do."

* * *

Lindsey awoke with a gasp, shooting up and slamming her head on something. She swore, falling back down onto her back while reaching up to rub her forehead where she'd banged it.

"What the hell…?" Lindsey muttered, reaching up and finding her hands stop against a soft surface. Her eyes widened in the dark, and she let out a scream as she hit the surface in a frenzied panic. _I've been buried alive! I've been-_

Her scream turned into a startled yelp as the top not only came open, but the casket fell to one side off the display table, dropping her top half out onto the floor, "Oof!" Lindsey groaned, slowly climbing up out of the coffin on her shaky hands and knees, looking up in horror at the rest of the room. There was no more beautiful rays of sunlight streaming into the viewing room, and in fact it looked like dawn was just now breaking. The seats, previously empty, now held a series of guests in the first few rows. Most of them were zombies, but the ones in the front row were bodies from the morgue, all of them torn open and propped up. And oh god, the stench. Lindsey gagged as the waves of decay finally reached her, and she put her hands over her nose and mouth. It looked like somebody's sick funeral reversal.

In the back of the room, where tables usually held small snacks for a service, she could see that the tables held chunks of bloody meat. Organs, ripped straight out of the bodies. Lindsey gagged again, feeling a wave of nausea overcome her.

"Ehehehe…" a small giggle sounded from the back of the room. Lindsey followed it, and finally saw the girl standing beside the food tables, her back to Lindsey. She was filling a plate with them, piling guts up before setting it down on the table. The girl turned around, and Lindsey froze at the sight of her. She had pale skin, looking like she didn't get outside very much, and her wide eyes were firmly fixated on Lindsey. She was smiling so widely that it looked painful, and what Lindsey had originally thought was lipstick was actually… gore, splattered across her cheeks.

"What the hell is this?" Lindsey asked, trying to sound brave, but her voice cracked.

"Isn't it funny?" the girl said in a high voice. It sounded like the kind of tone that a woman would use to sound like a kid, but if this chick was being serious or not, she couldn't tell. "We used to think that rising from the dead was a miracle… but then the zombies came. They came, rising from the dead, and now we want to hurt them for it." She took a step toward Lindsey, and now she could see that the girl was holding a scalpel. "But I can see them. I can see how beautiful they are."

"Okay, look, take it easy…"

"Do you know the most defining thing about a zombie?" the girl interrupted with a gleeful smile. "It isn't the bees or whatever. It isn't the look. It's the _bites_. What do zombies do? They eat people!" As Lindsey watched, terrified and disgusted, the girl took a small bit of flesh and popped it into her mouth, chewing as a bit of juice ran down her chin as casually as one would eat a strawberry.

"You've been… _eating them?!_ " Lindsey cried, astonished as she looked from side to side at the bodies from the morgue.

"Well, you know how the saying goes. An organ a day…" the girl snickered, "keeps the zombies away!"

"Oh, Christ. That's sick, I can't believe…" Lindsey's eyes darted from side to side, and she looked back at the casket. "Where's my weapon?!"

"Ehehe! Oh, you don't have to worry about _that_ ," the girl said, rolling her unblinking eyes. "My name is Ellie. What's yours?"

"Lindsey. Now where's my weapon?"

"Tsk. So rude," Ellie pouted. "I wanted to offer you the chance to join me… zombies work better in a mob, after all. Haven't you ever seen _Dawn of the Dead?_ We could be like that… we could go join them..."

"Look, Ellie, you're _not_ a zombie," Lindsey said tensely. "You're… honestly, this is pretty fucking sick. I can… oh God, I don't even know… I guess I can take you somewhere safe, you can rest in one of the rooms… I'm sure that Dr. Winslow would understand that you need help, but… oh God…"

Lindsey looked back at Ellie to find that she was no longer smiling, "You know what…? You're starting to sound like… like everyone else."

"Huh…?"

"Like my parents," Ellie said, taking a step forward. "My counselor." Another step. "My therapist." Lindsey swallowed hard, feeling a sense of dread starting to form in her stomach. "And _them_." Ellie pointed at a row of chairs. Lindsey hadn't seen them before, sitting directly behind the bodies from the morgue, but now she gasped at the sight of surgical clothing and neat suits. Three people, all of whom looked like they worked here, with their throats cut and rib cages opened. "They all called it 'worship', they called it 'Bonnie and Clyde Syndrome'... I'm tired of people doubting who I am!" Ellie stopped, halfway to Lindsey, and her familiar grin crept back across her face. "And you know what? I think that I'm getting really… _really_ … tired of _you_."

Lindsey screamed, jumping backwards as Ellie suddenly lunged with the scalpel, swiping at her. Lindsey cried out, feeling herself lose her balance. Ellie let out another giggle as Lindsey fell onto her back, and she pounced, holding the scalpel up over her head and bringing it down at Lindsey's face. Lindsey reached up and grabbed Ellie's wrist, stopping the knife only inches from her head as Ellie knelt over her with that same horrible smile, pushing down as she stared into Lindsey's terrified eyes.

"People kill zombies all the time without thinking about who they are!" Ellie said. Lindsey didn't reply, too focused on holding the scalpel with both hands and trying to keep it away from her, a battle that she was losing with every passing second while Ellie put more and more of her weight behind it. "Why should killing _you_ be any different, Lindsey?!"

Ellie yelped, nearly tripping over as Lindsey suddenly moved her head to the side, twisting her grip just enough that the scalpel missed her ear and hit the carpet. As Ellie registered what had just happened, Lindsey pulled one of her hands free and threw her fist into Ellie's face. The girl let out a pained cry as she was knocked back while Lindsey fought to get to her feet and run. Ellie sneered, rubbing her sore cheek and tightening her grip on the scalpel.

"You're a goddamn _psychopath!_ " Lindsey shouted, whirling around to see that Ellie was still standing in the middle of the viewing hall, keeping her eyes on her and moving back to guard the exit. There would be no escape without a fight.

Unfortunately, Lindsey was still unarmed. She looked from side to side to see if she could find anything to use. The viewing room was comprised mostly of chairs and decorative potted plants lining the walls. No handy sledgehammers or fully-loaded shotguns lying around.

 _What's wrong with these people? Don't they know there's an outbreak going on?_ Lindsey thought, looking back up to Ellie's insane smile. _Give a girl something to kill with!_

Lindsey was snapped out of her thoughts as Ellie slammed the doors to the viewing hall shut and began moving toward her, holding the knife at the ready. Lindsey cried out, moving back around a row of chairs, but Ellie was swift, cutting through the lines of chairs and clambering over to get to her. In the moment, Lindsey could remember the earliest news broadcasts after the Willamette Incident, the interviews with Frank West…

" _It was crazy, you know? And most of the time, the zombies weren't even really the biggest problem. There were people in that mall that were just messed up, and they were bigger threats than the zombies. When some murderous asshole comes at you with a weaponized shopping cart, you have to use whatever you can as a weapon._ "

As Ellie drew nearer, Lindsey reached out and grabbed the back of one of the metal folding chairs, yanking on it and dropping the body that was sitting on it to the floor. Ellie ran forward for the kill, but Lindsey was already swinging the chair.

"Uumph!" Ellie groaned as the seat connected, throwing her painfully to the side as Lindsey raised the chair to hit her again. This time, Ellie rolled out of the way as Lindsey brought the chair down to the floor with a loud _crash_ and jumped up before Lindsey could recover. "Hiya, sweetie!"

"Agh!" Lindsey tried to dodge as Ellie swiped with the scalpel, instinctively lifting her arm to block it, but the blade effortlessly cut into her arm. Lindsey shrieked at the burning feeling, staggering back as it started to bleed. It looked like Ellie hadn't gotten her very deep, but it was a reminder of just how deadly that tiny tool could be. "Dammit!"

"You'll have to have a _closed_ casket funeral when I'm done!" Ellie yelled as Lindsey hurried to get away, clutching her bleeding arm as she made her way toward the doors. Ellie was surprisingly fast; if she was going to get the doors open without giving her an opening, Lindsey had to distract her.

 _Anything is a weapon_ , the thought came intrusively, like some of the greatest or perhaps worst ideas do. She changed course, heading instead for the snack table where Ellie had piled up all of her guts. Ellie was heading straight for her, and as Lindsey grabbed the plate, she raised the scalpel.

"Yaaaah!" Lindsey shouted, turning and throwing the pile of gore at the psychopath. Ellie yelped, nearly knocked over as the pile flew directly into her face with a sickeningly wet _plop_.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with your food-?" Ellie asked as she wiped her eyes, looking back in time to see the plate flying toward her before it hit. " _Ow!_ "

Lindsey grinned victoriously as Ellie was distracted long enough for her to rush to the doors, unlocking one and pulling it open. She was lost for a second, getting her bearings, but once she remembered which way the exit was, she took a few tentative steps before stopping. She remembered the horde of zombies outside, but who knows how long she'd been knocked out. Were they still there?

In the time that she hesitated, Ellie burst through the doorway and grabbed Lindsey by the hair. Lindsey let out a yell as Ellie pulled her back and threw her backward, sending her into the metallic door into the morgue. Lindsey hit roughly, collapsing to the floor in a daze.

"You're a fighter, I'll give you that…" Ellie growled, tossing her scalpel onto the floor as she stomped to Lindsey, grabbing her shirt and pulling her off the door before tugging it open. Lindsey was hit with the chemical aroma of a sterile environment, like a cleaner version of the chaotic state that the hospital was in. As Ellie threw her to the floor inside, she struggled to come to her senses while the psychotic zombie worshipper moved to a table of tools. "Clearly, a scalpel isn't gonna work… ehehehe! I'll have to use some other tools for _you!_ "

Lindsey climbed to her hands and knees, looking up to see Ellie turn back around, now holding a machete. Lindsey's eyes widened in shock, seeing the torn duct tape on the end; Ellie had taken her weapon and broken it in half. This was _her_ machete.

Without another second of hesitation, Lindsey threw herself to the side in a roll as Ellie swung, cutting through the air just behind Lindsey, so close that she could hear the blade whistling. She came to a stop on her feet next to a rolling embalming table, quickly grabbing it and pulling it between herself and Ellie. As she moved it, it slammed into a table holding a few tools and sent them falling to the floor with a loud clatter. Ellie pounced, falling over the table and reaching out with the machete, slicing at Lindsey. Lindsey moved back, looking around wildly for another way out, but it looked like the only way that she would survive would be to beat Ellie.

Lindsey took off running, moving past the morgue fridges lining the wall. Ellie pushed herself away from the table and lunged at Lindsey, shoving her roughly against one of the fridges.

"Ah, fuck!" Lindsey swore, struggling to stay on her feet and pushing Ellie away, gasping in horror as the psychopath raised the machete to swing. With a small cry, she grabbed the closest fridge door and yanked it open, ducking as the machete missed her and the door smacked into Ellie.

While Ellie recovered, Lindsey could see another small table holding more tools near the cremation oven, including a large bonesaw. With a new flame of determination roaring within, Lindsey took off toward the table, swerving to avoid an operating table as Ellie followed, swinging the machete as she chased after her prey. As Lindsey reached the table, she swept up the saw in one hand and turned around in time to throw it up to deflect a blow from the machete, catching the blade like they were swordfighting. Ellie sneered, trying to push down toward Lindsey, but the girl stood her ground and shoved back. They were locked in the deadly face off for a few intense seconds before Ellie suddenly moved forward and lashed out with her fist, punching Lindsey into the side of the oven where the control panel was. Lindsey grunted in pain, and swung the bonesaw. Ellie screamed, but couldn't block it in time as the blade hit her in the shoulder.

"Aaaaaugh! Oh my God!" Ellie shrieked. Lindsey gasped, her eyes widening. The saw was stuck deep in her flesh, and remained hanging off her shoulder even after Lindsey had let go. Ellie swore, grabbing it and ripping it out of her shoulder with a wince before throwing it to the side. "You _bitch!_ You're going to pay for that!"

There was no trace of a smile on Ellie's enraged face as she grabbed Lindsey by the front of her jacket, punching her hand into a button on the control panel behind her to start the cremation process. Lindsey tried to wrestle Ellie's grip off her, but the psychopath was driven by raw anger and pure adrenaline as she lifted Lindsey up and roughly flung her onto the cremation table.

"N-No!" Lindsey choked out; it was hard to breathe. Ellie must have knocked the wind out of her. "Damn… it!" She lashed out at Ellie's face as the fire burst to life behind her, managed to connect with her boot. Ellie was thrown back, and Lindsey rolled off the table, falling onto the floor. The entrance was in view, but something else was on the floor in front of her.

" _I'm gonna fucking kill you, zombie hater!_ " Ellie roared, charging at Lindsey as the woman stood up, turned around, and swung with the baseball bat that Ellie had thrown onto the floor without a second thought. She caught Ellie just upside the head with a loud _crack_ that visibly shook the psychotic zombie worshipper. Ellie's eyes widened in shock before dimming, and she staggered, bleeding profusely from her shoulder and now from a wound on her head.

"I… I'm sorry…" Lindsey whimpered as Ellie fell back against the cremation table. Ellie's head moved from side to side, and she was clearly having trouble holding it steady.

"I'm…" Ellie closed her eyes for a few seconds. "I don't feel too good, I think… I'm so tired…"

Ellie collapsed onto the cremation table just as the process began, and the table slowly retracted into the oven as the fires rushed up to greet her body. There was a flash of light as the mechanized door closed and Ellie disappeared from view, and Lindsey heard a faint high-pitched hum from somewhere inside that was either the hiss of steam and smoke, or the screams of a girl burning alive. She closed her eyes until the noise stopped, and when she opened them a tear spilled out, running down her cheek as she shakily picked up the bonesaw in her other hand, leaving the machete behind as she took the saw and her baseball bat.

Now that she was inside the morgue, Lindsey looked around for any sign of the Zombrex that had brought her here in the first place. Up on the wall beside the entrance was a red first aid box, and next to it was a green box marked "Zombrex". Breathing a sigh of relief, she opened the box to find that it was packed full of Zombrex; they had been surprisingly well-stocked. This looked like it would be enough for the medical center, or at least she hoped so.

"But first…" Lindsey looked at her baseball bat, and then her bonesaw. "I need a new weapon."

* * *

Only a few minutes later, Lindsey emerged from the morgue with the box of Zombrex in one hand, taken straight from the wall and held by the handle on the top, and her new weapon in the other. She had taken the blade from the bonesaw and stuck it firmly into the side of the baseball bat, resulting in a sort of sawblade bat. A Bladesball Bat, if you will.

Lindsey walked quickly, desperate to leave behind the grisly memory of what had happened in that morgue. The zombies were much more preferable to that nightmare.

Yet as she reached the front door and hesitated before kicking the door open, there were no zombies outside. The sun was also rising in the sky, meaning that she must have been asleep in the casket all night.

 _Oh God,_ she thought to herself. _How many infected people relying on me did I let down?!_ Lindsey broke into a run, clutching the Zombrex box tightly as she booked it down the sidewalk, moving into the street to avoid a few zombies. _Sara, Justin… they're all probably worried sick!_

She raced around the corner of a building, running down the sidewalk directly into a zombie man with a startled "oof!" as she jumped back, raising her weapon.

"Wait, wait!" the zombie exclaimed, holding up his hands. Lindsey caught herself before she accidentally cut him up, but the surprise quickly turned into suspicion, and she didn't lower her weapon as she backed away. This wasn't a zombie; it was a man, one wearing a leather jacket with a fire axe in his belt loop and a… was that a broom with nails in his hand?

"I don't have time for this," Lindsey said, moving to step around him, but then he said something that stopped her in her tracks.

"Lindsey?" he asked quizzically. "Lindsey Connor?"

Lindsey glanced back at him, narrowing her eyes but finally lowering her weapon, "Who are you?"

"Dr. Winslow sent me out looking for you," he explained. "And, uh, Sara says that she's worried about you."

"You've met Sara?" Lindsey asked, feeling somewhat relieved: even if she didn't trust him, she at least could be sure that he wasn't a threat.

The man nodded, "My name is Kirk Reid. Come on, we need to get that Zombrex back to the safehouse as soon as possible. My girlfriend's life depends on it."

"Then let's go," Lindsey agreed, and she and Kirk began heading back to the Medical Center.


	13. Case Zombrex

**13**

 **Case Zombrex**

As the second day dawned over Haven City, many of the survivors were huddled in the sanctuary of the Haven City Medical Center. The streets were filled with the bodies of the dead and the undead, each of them shuffling around with no sense of purpose or direction. Cars stood still. Traffic was nonexistent. There was no sound except for the gentle wind and the occasional groan of a lonesome zombie.

This was the day that Haven City stood silent.

Rose Matthews sat alone in a small room in the back of the hallway, cut off from the surviving group that she'd arrived with as she was forced into this makeshift solution that felt more like a prison cell. Armed guards stood outside not just her room, but the rooms of the other infected. She tried not to think about why they had their guns, but it was like a constant itch in the back of her head, reminding her of the danger she was in.

Their only hope now was for somebody to return with Zombrex. The safehouse was completely out, and now Rose and the other infected were just waiting to succumb to the zombie disease coursing through their veins. Rose knew that she was probably imagining it, but she could feel a small twitch in her body, a twitch that would grow into a roar as the Queens larvae took control and turned her. She'd read somewhere that a zombie bite like hers gave her only a few hours to live. Far more generous, when she thought about it, than the unfortunate people who were bitten twice. One bite gave an adult woman some time to spare, but even two bites usually resulted in almost immediate zombification. That was how outbreaks spread so rapidly; two bites. Bites from the freshly infected. In that regard, she was lucky, but as she sat alone on the cot in her cell, she felt anything but.

"Ughh… please…" the man in the room next to her had been moaning all morning. He was getting close to turning. Rose yelped at the sound of a sudden crash in his room, and she pulled her legs against her chest and held herself, her heart pounding as the guards hurried to his room. The moaning had stopped; now he was screaming.

"We have a situation, one of the infected is beginning zombification," one of the guards reported into a radio over the sound of the man shouting.

"I NEED ZOMBREX! PLEASE! _Aaaaaaugh!_ " he pounded the locked door of his cell, begging to be set free. " _Let me out! I can feel it coming! I can…_ "

The man abruptly went silent, his screams dying into low sobs that turned quickly into hungry moans. Rose closed her eyes, rocking her body gently and holding her hands up over her ears. She could still hear muffled voices, and then a loud _bang_ that sent a bolt of lightning through her body, followed by cold shivers. A gunshot.

"The infected turned. He… he's dead," the guard reported, and Rose felt a tinge of sympathy for the crack in his voice. He was remorseful. Tragedies like this always brought out the humanity in others, but also forced them into doing what had to be done.

The thought might have been comforting to Rose if she wasn't one of the ones infected.

"Hurry up, Kirk…" she whispered to herself, feeling warm tears streaming down her cheeks as her body suddenly felt very warm. "Please… hurry..."

* * *

When Kirk had began escorting Lindsey back to the Medical Center, he had been expecting her to be kind of useless. It was a mean thing to think, sure, but he was always considering the worst case scenario first. He thought that he would be leading the way and she'd tail after him, occasionally needing rescuing from a zombie or needing him to constantly be calling out to remind her where he was.

To his surprise, Lindsey was not just another survivor. She wasn't cutting through zombies as easily as he was, but she was quick on her feet, in fact she was faster than he was. It was only his vow to save Rose that ensured he could keep up. The two didn't get in each other's way as they hurried through the ravenous city streets, and that kind of cooperation was really all that they needed. It probably wouldn't have been fair to either of them to even call this an escort mission.

"Only two more blocks!" Lindsey called back to Kirk once they'd reached another intersection. He struggled to stay with her, breathing hard, but she wasn't feeling winded. Her whole experience with Ellie had numbed her, so if she was tired, she didn't feel it. Once she was sure that Kirk was ready to keep going, she pointed toward up ahead where they could see the Haven City Medical Center. "Safehouse is straight ahead."

"Thank God," Kirk said, not even stopping to rest and forcing himself to keep going. "Come on, we need to hurry."

"Take it easy," Lindsey advised. "You're looking pretty tired."

"We can rest once everyone else is safe," Kirk said, taking a deep breath and clutching his side for a moment, though he did slow down a bit into a sort of jog. "Dammit… I keep thinking that we aren't going fast enough. If only we had a car…"

"You could try checking for keys, but I think that it'd be better if we just ran instead of looking at every car-" Lindsey shrugged, suddenly being cut off by a whistling sound whizzing past them like a supersonic hummingbird. Puzzled, she looked behind them where it had gone, and then looked ahead to see if she could see where it had came from.

Kirk finished catching his breath and looked back at Lindsey, "Come on. I'm good, let's keep moving-"

" _Get down!_ " Lindsey shrieked, throwing herself down to the pavement. Kirk barely had time to register what she meant before he dove to the sidewalk as another whistling sound soared over their heads and collided with the glass window of an art store, sending shattered glass raining down. Kirk looked up at the newly-made hole in horror, seeing the culprit stuck to a portrait of a forest inside. A crossbow arrow.

 _Oh shit._

"Move! Move! Get to cover!" Lindsey yelled, scrambling to stay low while hurrying to get behind a car. It was difficult because neither of them were quite sure exactly where they were firing from. Kirk made his way to the car beside Lindsey, ducking down as a bullet sparked against the hood. "We're totally out in the open here!"

"You two zombie lovers don't stand a chance!" a familiar voice rang out from somewhere on the other side of the car, across the street.

"God, I hate these guys," Lindsey sighed.

"Fuck, these guys again?!" Kirk cursed.

"Wait…" both of them looked to each other after speaking in unison, shocked.

Another arrow soared past their faces. Wherever the shooters were, they weren't together. It looked like they'd both ran into an ambush by the Hunters.

"Follow me!" Kirk exclaimed, pushing away from the car and making a run to one of the shops with an open door.

"You know these guys?" Lindsey asked, right behind him as they hurried into the cover of the building, which appeared to be a karate school or dojo or whatever. Training mats lined the floor and punching bags hung by the walls. The two got away from the windows, ducking into cover down a side hall that led into an office and the bathrooms.

"They knocked me out and tried to feed me to some zombies by the beach," Kirk explained. "I, uh… one of them was killed."

"They tried to attack my friends and I on our way to the Medical Center," Lindsey told him. "Those guys are insane… they're trying to say that they're killing anyone out here because we must be 'zombie lovers', but I watched one of them kill another just for getting bit."

"God…" Kirk sighed. "We don't have time to worry about these assholes right now. We need to get that Zombrex back to the safehouse! Rose… all of the infected need it."

Lindsey felt a twitch of sympathy for the man; his girlfriend was one of the ones bitten, she recalled him saying. He was probably desperate… and if it meant that her death would be another body at the hands of the Hunters, then she supposed that she was getting desperate too.

"Here," Lindsey said, holding out the Zombrex case to Kirk. Kirk looked taken aback, but he took it suspiciously, eyeing Lindsey with a raised eyebrow.

"What are you planning?"

"You take that and keep going. I'll try to cover you," Lindsey said.

Kirk took a deep breath, shaking his head, "It isn't going to work. That crazy fucker with the crossbow is in the way. If I try to run toward him, he'll shoot me. If we try to fight, the one with the rifle is probably watching him.

"We'll figure it out," Lindsey said, looking around the dojo. She surveyed the area, her eyes finally landing on the punching bags. "Look, those punching bags… they're sandbags. That would probably stop a bullet, right?"

"Maybe! If we knew where the bullets were coming from!" Kirk said, shaking his hands in the direction of the sandbags in frustration. "Look, isn't there a backdoor or something that we can escape out of?"

"Doesn't look like it," Lindsey said, squinting to see through the darkness toward the end of the hall and finding only a solid wall. "Seems like a breach of fire code if you ask me. But look, we're wasting time! Just…" Lindsey peered around the corner, feeling her cheeks twitch at the thought that a bullet was being aimed at her face at that very moment. Across the street, she could see a small movement in an alleyway. Not enough to see that it was a zombie, but enough to see that somebody was hiding. "It looks like he's hiding in the alley across the street. I don't know where Crossbow is, but if you run in and out of cover, you might be able to see him before he sees you."

"So our plan is basically to just run?"

"No. _You_ are going to run," Lindsey took a deep breath, spying a fire extinguisher on the wall and hurrying to grab it. "I'm going to watch your back. Are you ready?"

"I'm not going to just leave you-"

"I'll be right behind you! But it's more important to get the Zombrex to the Medical Center. Look, Kirk…" Lindsey looked at him with a serious expression as she shoved her bat into a belt loop on her jeans and pulled the pin out of the fire extinguisher. "This is for Rose."

Kirk gulped, but nodded, "R-Right. Okay, if you're sure that you know what you're doing…"

"I am," Lindsey smiled, risking another look around the corner as she took hold of the trigger in one hand and the hose in the other. "On three. One… two… _three!_ "

Lindsey suddenly jumped around the corner, aiming the fire extinguisher at the door and squeezing it, releasing a cloud of chemicals that settled over the entrance like a thick fog. A gunshot rang out, shattering the window, but the two were unharmed as Lindsey led the way to the door under the smokey cover. As both of them emerged from the dojo, another gunshot exploded from the alleyway, this time passing by Lindsey's face. She aimed at the alley, sweeping it over to cast a cloud in front of Darren so that he couldn't see them.

Meanwhile, Paul with his crossbow was nowhere to be seen as Kirk broke into a sprint, clutching the Zombrex case against his chest. He hustled down the sidewalk as Lindsey felt the fire extinguisher starting to run out, but she was determined to get every single bit out of it while she charged at one of the cars across the street, ducking underneath it as the cloud lifted almost immediately.

"You can't hide from us!" Darren yelled, and he sounded so close that Lindsey could hear him reloading. She took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves before leaning over and peeking around the corner of the car. She couldn't see Darren yet, but around the corner of the building, she could see the barrel of the rifle aiming at the dojo. He hadn't seen her yet, but as Kirk hurried out of cover and hustled down the sidewalk, the barrel moved to follow him.

Lindsey sucked in a deep breath before jumping out of cover, raising the fire extinguisher as she did so and bringing it down on the gun barrel. The rifle went off with a horrifying shudder, firing a bullet into the pavement as Darren let out a shout. Following up on the momentum, Lindsey brought the fire extinguisher up and slammed it back into Darren's face, sending him falling to the ground as the rifle clattered out of his hands.

Meanwhile, Kirk was staying low, moving down the sidewalk and using the cars dotting the street as cover. He heard a small _click_ in front of him just before an arrow passed through the windows of the car, sending broken glass flying everywhere, and soared just above his head. He swore, ducking down further and transferring the Zombrex case under his arm, pulling out his fire axe. He was at a huge disadvantage against Paul's crossbow, unless he could throw the axe… which he wasn't at all willing to try.

"Can't you psychos just go away?! We're trying to deliver some Zombrex to save lives!" Kirk yelled.

"Zombrex?! That's one of the most inhuman inventions out there!" Paul called back, sounding menacingly calm as he reloaded his crossbow and brought it up to aim. "Lettin' zombies live among us humans… Zombrex should be illegal!"

Kirk felt a sudden warmth in his chest. Not a comforting warmth, but the embers that would become a raging wildfire, "This shit is going to save my girlfriend, you elitist prick!"

"Oh. I get it. You think that you need Zombrex to save her… take it from me, son…" Paul kept talking as he slowly began heading toward the car, holding his crossbow at the ready. "You don't want her to live like that. To live like a zombie. My wife… after an outbreak, she…" Paul hesitated, licking his dry lips before continuing. He was almost to the edge of the car. "I couldn't let her live like that. I just couldn't. So one night… in our own bedroom…" Paul lunged around the car, firing off an arrow. " _I set her free!_ "

The arrow bounced off the sidewalk a distance aways, hitting nothing. Paul's eyes widened; Kirk was gone.

Unbeknownst to him, Kirk had been watching him approach by looking underneath the car, and had quietly ducked around the side just before Paul had moved in. Kirk clutched the Zombrex case tightly against his chest as he hid, glancing over at Lindsey.

Lindsey was keeping Darren at bay, kicking the rifle away with her foot while swinging the fire extinguisher at him. Every time he tried to move it, he was forced to jump back to avoid being struck with the heavy can. Now, with his rifle out of reach, he let out an irritated roar and charged at Lindsey. Lindsey cried out before Darren tackled her and sent the two falling into a pile on the sidewalk.

"Dammit! _PAUL!_ " Darren yelled. Paul's attention was pulled away from Kirk, giving him enough time to start running down the street with the Zombrex. Paul caught sight of Kirk out of the corner of his eye, and he quickly hopped up onto the car's hood. There, he was faced with two dilemmas: either he could take down Kirk, or he could help Darren.

Paul had lost two of his friends already since the outbreak had started. Losing another was not an option. Sighing to strengthen his resolve, he turned his crossbow on the two brawlers.

"Hold 'er still! I can't get a clear shot!" he shouted. Lindsey felt her stomach drop at the thought, and it turned into a match of pushing the other out into the arrow's path.

Kirk was nearly at the end of the block, but stopped when he heard Paul shout. He grit his teeth, looking ahead to the Medical Center where a few zombies were starting to stagger toward the street where they were fighting, and then behind to where Lindsey was at the mercy of the two Hunters.

"...god dammit."

"Aha!" Darren exclaimed, grabbing Lindsey's neck and twisting her up to hold her out while she struggled to pull free. "Got her! Paul, shoot her!"

Paul raised his crossbow and took careful aim, but just before he could pull the trigger, he heard a shout behind him. He didn't have time to turn around before Kirk, leaping up behind him, brought down the metal Zombrex case directly on his head. Paul swore, stumbling forward and tripping, falling off the car hood.

"Ugh!" Paul shouted, managing to hold onto his crossbow, but his hand went up to his head. It felt like Kirk had cracked his skull. "Y-You…"

" _Paul!_ " Darren yelled, his grip loosening on Lindsey, who took advantage of the distraction to grab the bat in her belt loop and jab it back into his stomach with as much force as she could. Darren swore, falling back, and Lindsey managed to pull away from him. As Kirk jumped down from the car, Paul shakily climbed to his feet, bringing up his crossbow. Lindsey hurried forward, grabbing it before he could pull the trigger and pushing it up. Paul, however, didn't have any more dedication to keep going, and Lindsey was easily able to pull the crossbow away as he toppled over again. "Bitch! I'm going to kill you!"

"Lindsey-!" Kirk cried as Darren ran toward her. Lindsey didn't have any time to think about it if they were going to live, and in that instant, she did what she had to do. She fumbled with the crossbow, and then fired an arrow at Darren that flew through the arrow and impaled itself into his shoulder.

"Eyyyyaaaah!" Darren shrieked, thrown backwards by the force of the bolt and falling to the ground next to a car. Seething with fury, he raised a hand to the car next to him to pull himself up, "You're fucking dead! I'll feed you to the zombies-!" Lindsey fired again, sending another arrow flying directly into the man's hand, pinning it to the car door like a notice on a bulletin board. " _Aaaaaaaugh!_ "

"Shit, come on! The zombies are coming!" Kirk said, tugging at Lindsey's arm as zombies started approaching from down both ways of the street, brought by the sounds of the commotion. Lindsey shook her head to clear her mind, her heart still racing, but she dropped the crossbow and started running.

"H-Hey! Come back!" Darren yelled as the zombies moved in on him and Paul. Paul was almost unconscious on his back in the street, and Darren pulled at the arrow keeping his hand stuck to the car with growing frustration and dread as the sound of the zombie feet dragging on the pavement grew closer. "Dammit! Stay back, you undead fucks! Paul, wake up! _Paul!_ "

Kirk and Lindsey ran back to the Medical Center, both of them breathing hard, and both of them trying to ignore the sounds of screaming behind them as the final two Hunters were devoured alive by the very creatures that they had pledged themselves against.

In a way, they were finally consumed by their hatred… in more ways than one.

* * *

Dr. Winslow walked down the hallway, reaching up to wipe away the beads of sweat on his forehead and push up his glasses. He glanced toward the end of the hallway where the infected were slowly dying, and swallowed hard. The gunshot from earlier was still ringing in his ears, and the guilt was weighing heavily on his heart.

It didn't make any sense. The hospital was meant to be equipped with the resources necessary to comfortably survive an outbreak like this. Those resources were supposed to include Zombrex, and he knew very well that they'd had plenty of Zombrex. Had somebody taken it? Where did it all go…?

He could hear a woman groaning in pain as the virus started to awaken, and closed his eyes. How many more people would have to die here because of their lack of inventory? The doctor reached up to wipe his forehead again, when he heard the sounds of shouting from outside. Dr. Winslow took a few hopeful steps toward the doors, until Pierce pushed the door open from outside and peered inside with a wide grin, his eyes quickly finding the doctor.

"They're back! They're back!" he exclaimed.

From out of a room behind Dr. Winslow, Sara hurried out into the hallway, "Is Lindsey back? Is she okay?!"

Pierce held the door open as Kirk hurried inside, clutching the Zombrex case. Right behind him was Lindsey, who slowed to a stop, trying to catch her breath.

"Move! _Move!_ " Kirk shouted, running past the survivors in the hallway until he reached Dr. Winslow. Kirk thrust the case into his arms while Dr. Winslow fumbled to hang onto it, but before he could say thanks, Kirk was busy opening the case and pulling out a single needle. "Where's Rose? Where is she?!"

"T-That room!" Dr. Winslow cried, adjusting his grip on the Zombrex case to one arm while pointing with his other. Kirk wasted no time in pulling the door open while an armed guard watched in astonishment. Lindsey looked up to watch, only to suddenly find a girl charging at her.

"Gaaaah!" Lindsey yelled as she was grabbed and pulled into the girl's embrace.

"Where have you been?! You were gone all night, we were worried-!" Sara said, overcome with relief that Lindsey was okay.

"Heh, I'm _fine_ , Sara," Lindsey smiled, actually kind of surprised that her coworker seemed to care so much. "Promise. I just got… distracted, is all."

Inside the room that had become her cell, Rose smiled when she saw Kirk entering the room, but everything just felt so distant. Her head felt like it was full of fog, and she could feel herself slipping away. She was vaguely aware of him grabbing her shoulder and shaking her. His mouth moved, but the ringing in her ears drowned out any words. His face was white as he brought the needle up and jabbed it down.

The feeling… it was like a raging fire erupting through her veins, vaporizing everything. The disease, her blood, her essence. For a moment, she felt like she was falling to her death.

And then… darkness.


	14. The Evacuation

**14**

 **The Evacuation**

Lindsey twisted the doorknob, pushing the door open a little bit and tapping her knuckles on the door. When she heard a quiet "Come in…" from inside, she pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped inside, carefully closing the door behind her. The sounds of the hospital, the few doctors going around and checking on everyone as well as the general chatter and soft crying from the survivors gathered in the hallway were muffled, and in the silence, Lindsey felt the strange sensation of slipping underwater and hearing the surface world silenced under the pressure.

Kirk looked up from where he was sitting in a chair against the wall. On the bed, Rose was still unconscious. It had been an hour since her Zombrex injection, but she was the only one to have passed out like this.

"Hey there," Kirk said, his voice sounding tired, but he smiled. "I've been meaning to talk to you, actually. How was your friend doing?"

"Justin? He's doing fine. The doctor has him on painkillers, and he's been acting like his old self again," Lindsey said, leaning against the door without another chair for her to sit. "I decided to come and check on you guys." Lindsey nodded at Rose. "How's she doing?"

Kirk sighed, slumping a bit in his chair, "I'm worried. She fainted after I injected her, and she's been sleeping ever since. Dr. Winslow says that this is a side effect of Zombrex, that the drug attacking the virus after it begins to spread overwhelms the infected, so… so I must have gotten it to her just in time…" Kirk leaned forward, burying his face in his hands. "Oh god. She's infected. I can't believe it."

"Relax, Kirk. We did all that we could," Lindsey crossed her arms, taking a deep breath. "And… and I wanted to thank you for saving my life back there."

"If anything, you saved mine," Kirk said with a small grin. "Fighting those psychos off like that… let's call it a tie, huh?"

"Sure," Lindsey chuckled. "But that's not all that I came over here for. Dr. Winslow says that we brought back enough Zombrex to save the infected for a little while, but there's too many infected survivors. Unless the evacuation starts soon, we're going to end up right back where we started. As far as he's concerned, we only bought everybody a little bit of time."

"So somebody is going to have to go out and find some more Zombrex," Kirk nodded sullenly, standing up. "It never stops, does it?"

"Apparently not," Lindsey agreed, opening the door as she and Kirk stepped out, leaving Rose to rest. "But listen, I figure that those people should be us. I thought that we made a pretty good team out there."

"...yeah, I guess that we did," Kirk said, shrugging and putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "I have to be honest, I thought that you would slow me down."

"If anything, _you_ slowed _me_ down," Lindsey playfully teased.

"Of course I'll go out there with you for Zombrex, but before that, I wanted to ask you something," Kirk began, his voice carrying a grave tone. "Did you see anybody out there that was… _disguise_ d as a zombie?"

"Someone disguised as a…?" Lindsey was taken aback by the question, and for a moment, a vision of Ellie slurping up guts off her plate entered her mind and made her feel nauseous. Still, that wasn't really somebody _disguised_ as a zombie… she was more of a worshipper. "No… did you?"

Kirk nodded, "While I was out there, I saw men wearing zombie masks, and they were carrying assault rifles. Once while standing guard on a street, again when one of them was being swarmed outside of a shop. Did you see anything like that?"

"I… no, I don't think I did…" Lindsey tried to understand what he was saying, but the idea of it was difficult to imagine. Not so much _how_ someone would disguise themselves, but _why_. Before she could say anything else, they were interrupted by the sound of Dr. Winslow clearing his throat behind them.

"Come again? Did I hear that right?" the doctor asked, raising an eyebrow. "Men… wearing zombie masks…? With guns?"

"It looks like we have something to discuss," Kirk said. "Do you have anywhere that we can talk about this, doc?"

"Erm… my office should be discrete."

"Let me gather the survivors I came in with. We talked about it after I saw them for the first time," Kirk said. "Something isn't right in Haven City. There might be more to this outbreak than we think."

* * *

"Lieutenant, you have to speak to Captain Vance about this."

"Stand down, soldier. The captain has made his orders about this very clear. He doesn't want anybody entering Haven City until tomorrow."

"Who knows how many survivors aren't going to be alive tomorrow?!" Sergeant Dylan protested. Lieutenant Roy Page sighed, leaning against the wall of the warehouse they were temporarily using as a compound until the crisis was over. "Please, sir, he won't listen to me."

"May I ask the interest in saving Haven City, Sergeant?" Lieutenant Page inquired. "I don't usually see much that really gets your goat like this."

"It's because I understand the situation!" Sgt. Dylan exclaimed, taking a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. "Look, sir. My squad moved in on the Smithville Outbreak, the Marchtown Outbreak, and the Young County Outbreak. We were supposed to go into Fortune City with Sgt. Boykin as reinforcements, but they were overrun and we were ordered to stand down. I've personally seen more outbreaks than almost anyone in the United States Army outside of the Special Forces. I understand the severity of the situation in a way that Captain Vance refuses to listen to."

"Listen, Dylan, I feel for you. I really do," the Lieutenant said, "and I don't understand the captain's orders either, but our duty is to obey them."

"With all due respect, sir, I disagree," Sgt. Dylan argued. "I think our duty is to the people of our nation, and that means the ones stuck inside the quarantine zone. Listen, listen…" Sgt. Dylan lowered his voice. "You have sway over everyone. Send in the platoon. Send in the transports so we can at least rescue the ones in the safehouses."

"You-" the Lieutenant narrowed his eyes, lowering his voice to a whisper to match Dylan's. "What you're suggesting is insubordination."

"And I will proudly face the consequences, sir. So long as I get to save the survivors."

Lt. Page chuckled, "You certainly have got a pair on you, Sarge," he glanced over his shoulder before leaning in. "Listen, I don't want any part of this. I won't be held responsible if your squad happens to take the ZDC Control Trucks tonight. I certainly won't be held responsible for anyone that decides to join you, and I absolutely will not be thinking about your operation while I'm distracting the captain with a polite conversation at precisely 1400 hours."

"Then, sir, off the record? You're a good man for helping us like this."

"Off the record, you're a better man for being brave enough to go in there," Lt. Page grinned. "Dismissed."

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

"So, with all that's been going on, we haven't had a chance to sit down and discuss it," Kirk began, addressing Eric and Savannah sitting on one side of the table, while Lindsey, Sara, and Doctor Winslow sat on the other, "but while I was out there, I saw something that makes me think… I mean, we all know what Frank West said about Willamette, Las Vegas, and Fortune City, right? The accusations toward a greater conspiracy going on? I think…" he sighed. "With the King zombies and those men, I think that might be happening here."

"You think someone started the outbreak on purpose?" Sara asked, sounding offended. "I… my friend got shot out there, and all of my other friends were probably killed. You think somebody did all this _on purpose?_ "

"I know that it might be hard to understand, but Kirk has to be telling the truth. We saw one of those 'King' zombies," Eric said.

"Maybe they were government agents. I mean, what kind of person would kill thousands of people like this?!" Sara cried. "A-And, and wasn't Frank West lying about Las Vegas and Fortune City for his own popularity?"

"But it makes sense," Lindsey suddenly said. "Dr. Winslow, you said that normally you're well stocked on Zombrex, right? So where did it all go?"

"You know, that confuses me as well," Dr. Winslow said, rubbing his chin. "We check our inventory twice a week, and we always have plenty of Zombrex in preparation for a disaster like this. More troubling, we sent out a few teams to local pharmacies, and they reported back that those places were low on Zombrex supply as well. We haven't seen any looters. Where did it all go?"

"Kirk, maybe you should tell them what you saw," Eric advised.

Kirk took a deep breath before launching into his story, "I was out looking for a survivor from our group, but while I was out there, I got up onto a rooftop and from there, I could see these men in the street. Most of them looked like mercenaries, with assault rifles and everything, but they were wearing these masks to blend in with the zombies. They, uh, they had these zombies chained up to posts, and this guy… he must have been the one in charge, because he wasn't wearing a mask or anything, this guy walks around to each of the zombies and injected them with this formula that made them… change. They mutated right in front of me, they turned into those Kings. I think that they were producing more Queens than a normal zombie too."

"So this could be terrorists," Lindsey theorized.

"I don't know," Kirk shook his head before looking to Dr. Winslow. "And I hate to be the one to tell you, but I saw the men… the Disguised Zombie Mercenaries… there were these two guys in an ATV coming toward them. They didn't even give them a chance, they just lifted their rifles and…"

"Oh… oh dear God. Manchez and Thomas," Dr. Winslow said, slumping back in his seat. "They were one of the teams we sent out to find survivors. The only ones who didn't make it back. They must have…"

"Whatever is going on, we need to go out and find them," Lindsey said. For a moment, nobody spoke. All eyes turned to her, as though they couldn't believe what they'd heard and thought that she was about to say what she actually _meant_ to say. "What? I mean it. Even if we don't know what these guys are doing or what they want, we know one thing. If they're performing tests on zombies like that, turning them into 'Kings', then they _have_ to have Zombrex."

"Are you insane?" Sara asked flatly. "Do you just take some kind of sick pleasure out of endangering yourself?"

"But she's right," Kirk sighed. "And Rose… and the infected aren't going to last much longer unless we can provide a large supply of it. There's no reason to think that we'll be evacuated soon."

"Besides," said Lindsey, "they could even be the ones behind the Zombrex disappearances. They could be stockpiling it."

"But we don't know that for sure," Savannah remarked.

"I think it's a pretty good guess," Lindsey shrugged. "Kirk got pretty close to them without being seen if he was on the rooftop. We just have to get a little bit closer."

"I'm sorry, who exactly are you volunteering for this?" Eric inquired exasperatedly. "Going _toward_ the dangerous zombies? It, it sounds like some kind of suicide mission. We'd be much safer if Kirk simply explained to the authorities what he saw when they move in for the evacuation. Until then, we need a Zombrex squad sent out to find another supply."

"Okay, so it's decided," Lindsey agreed. "Kirk and I will be the Zombrex squad, and we'll start looking by the dangerous zombie guys."

"Wait, that's not what I meant-" Eric began, but Kirk interrupted him.

"I like that idea," he shrugged.

"Are you serious? _You're_ the one who said how dangerous it is!" Savannah protested.

"So what if it's dangerous?" snapped Kirk. "To be honest, I don't care. I'm only going out there for Rose. If I don't find any Zombrex, she and the other infected are screwed. Lindsey's right about those guys, they probably _do_ have Zombrex if they're working with the zombies like that. Lindsey and I can go out there and find out what's going on."

"But why do _you_ have to go?" Sara cried to Lindsey. "You just came back! And you did this after you got Justin and I here too. Why do you keep running out into the outbreak? It's like you don't even care!"

"Because, Sara! Think about it!" Lindsey argued. "We were wasting our lives away at a goddamn coffee shop. I was only there because my relationship didn't work out, and because I thought I was getting married, I decided to drop out of college. I'm _this_ fucking close to moving back in with my parents because I can't keep going like this…" Lindsey swallowed hard. "But you know… it's horrible, but I finally have a real opportunity to be helping people here. For once, it feels like I'm really making a difference. I want to do everything I can… and if that means risking my life going after some crazy fucks in zombie masks, that's what I'll do."

There was a heavy silence following Lindsey's outburst, until Kirk finally spoke, "...well… any objections?" Nobody said anything. "That's what I thought. Lindsey and I will head out in half an hour."

* * *

"I gotta say, Captain, thanks for taking the time to talk to me," Lieutenant Page said, smiling at Captain Vance as he opened the door to let him in, closing it behind him and leaving the two commanding officers alone.

"Of course, Lieutenant. We don't have much to do now that Haven City has been secured," Vance said, strolling over to the folding table that had became his makeshift desk and sitting across from Page, who was making himself comfortable in a folding chair. "What was it that you wanted to discuss?"

"Well, sir, that's actually what it was. The men are starting to wonder why we aren't movin' in to rescue the survivors, especially after we spent months training for the new outbreak procedure," Lieutenant Page cut right to the point. He was a straightforward man, and the soldiers under his command often appreciated it. "I've had a couple of them talkin' my ear off asking questions about that."

"Oh. Of course," Vance lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Let me guess: Sergeant Dylan?"

"He's very passionate," the Lieutenant shrugged.

"I've tried to explain it to him, but he doesn't seem to understand that orders are orders. If he does anything reckless, he may well end up court-martialed someday."

"You don't say?"

"If he's bothering you, Lieutenant, I wouldn't mind having a few words with him," Vance offered. "Clearly he requires a few more lessons in discipline."

"He's just upset," Page said. "And he has a lot of integrity. That sort of spirit is more valuable to a man, I'd say."

"Not to a man in his position," Vance said before the radio on his desk crackled to life. He sighed, reaching for it while Page curiously examined the clock.

" _Sir!_ " the voice on the other end came through in a fog of static, but the urgency in his tone was clear.

"Speak, soldier."

" _Somebody has taken our transports!_ "

"Repeat that?!" the Captain demanded, his eyes widening as he leaned forward in his seat.

" _A group of our ZDC Control Trucks are en route to the quarantine zone! Several squads have joined the effort to rescue the survivors, sir!_ "

"Dammit, Dylan!" Captain Vance jumped out of his chair and hurried out of the office while Lieutenant Page grinned, slowly rising and following after him at a brisk pace. Vance sprinted out into the complex in time to see a group of ZDC Control Vehicles heading down the road toward Haven City.

"Well, I can see that you have a lot on your plate, Captain," the Lieutenant said dryly, walking back to the barracks. "I'll leave you to it."

"Bastard… you knew about this, didn't you…?" Captain Vance growled, turning and marching back into the warehouse, heading to his office. Once inside, he slammed the door shut behind him and grabbed his satellite phone from his desk, tapping a few buttons and holding it up to his ear. "It's Vance. We have a problem…"

* * *

"You know that it isn't too late to turn back," Kirk said, gripping his fire axe.

"I know. I just don't plan on regretting this decision until it _is_ too late," Lindsey retorted, twirling her sawblade bat in her hand. The two emerged from the safehouse into the parking lot, and from there, moved toward the exit where Pierce and his men were standing guard against the zombie hordes.

"Good to know," Kirk chuckled. As they drew closer to the barricade, one of Pierce's men turned around, holding out his arms.

"Kirk! My man!" Tyler exclaimed.

"Wait, Tyler?!"

"Check it out! Dr. Winslow said that I'd be a good fit on the security team," Tyler said proudly, holding up his rifle. "So I've been standing guard since you've been gone. Are you heading out again?"

"We need to find more Zombrex," Kirk nodded.

"Yeah, that's pretty important…" Tyler looked around, as though making sure the coast was clear. "Listen, man. I really want to help you, but I can't leave my post… so, I'm just gonna give you this." Tyler knelt down, gently setting down his rifle, and he reached down to what looked like undoing his belt. It took a moment for Kirk to realize that Tyler was wearing a gun holster, and once it was undone, he held it out to Kirk. "You know how to use this?"

Kirk nodded grimly, "Yeah." He took the gun and the holster gratefully while Tyler picked his rifle back up. "Thanks, man. This is definitely gonna help."

"Where's mine?" Lindsey asked sarcastically.

Tyler snickered, "You're gonna have to ask Pierce about that."

"We have to get moving anyway," Lindsey said, holding up her bladebat. "Besides. This has gotten me pretty far already."

"Oh, damn! That's amazing. You know, for a little while, I was using a baseball bat with nails in it," said Tyler. "Thing packed a punch."

"You two can talk about how to make a baseball bat into even more of a murder weapon later," Kirk interrupted, slightly exasperated. "Thanks again for the gun, Tyler. We'll make it back safely, I promise."

"You'd better," Tyler said, stepping aside and watching them leave. "I would hate to have to come and kick your zombified ass for breaking that promise."

"Do you remember where those guys were?" Lindsey asked, following after Kirk once they'd gotten onto the desolate streets.

"I have a vague idea," Kirk shrugged. "But we should keep an eye out for any suspicious looking zombies in the meantime."

"Oh, yeah. Totally," Lindsey agreed.

* * *

"Herb Fraiser, reporting live for _ZombieWatch_ on Channel 6 Action News. This just in, we have reports that a military convoy has arrived at the gates to Haven City. As the crowds of families and displaced locals cheer, the soldiers are currently working to create an opening in the barricade enough for them to get inside without letting out any zombies or weakening the perimeter. As the number of zombies pile up, it looks like the death count in Haven City is going to total somewhere in the thousands if not in the hundreds of thousands. We have reports that the safehouse, the Haven City Medical Center, has lost communication with the outside world, but the soldier leading the charge is optimistic about their chances. We now go live to Jamie Reynolds, our field reporter, who is posted at the gates of Haven City."

"Herb, I'm standing here with Sergeant William Dylan, the commanding officer leading the strike team apparently _against_ the orders of Captain Harrison Vance, who is the captain in charge of all military squads that were dispatched to deal with the outbreak. Sergeant Dylan, are you openly committing treason against the United States government with an act of defiance like this?"

"You could call it treason against the government, but I call it a responsibility to the American people! I believe that it is the duty of every man, woman, and child to rise up when our leaders will not act, and I will gladly accept the consequences as long as I can evacuate as many people from Haven City as possible."

"That is certainly noble of you, Sarge. How long do you think it will be until you can move in?"

"Right now, I can confidently say that we have an ETA of one hour until we can make it to the Medical Center. Getting inside is going to be a timely endeavor that we hadn't prepared for, but we are determined to work fast. I have a lot of good men working with me here, and I know that we will not only open the fence, but create an exit for any more survivors to make it out alive while keeping out the zombie hordes."

"That is very noble of you, sir. God bless you for doing this."

"Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I should be getting back to it."

"The scene here is very heartwarming to me as an American citizen, Herb! Despite the tragedy, it would appear that the crowd here is demonstrating their support for our troops. They say that tragedy strengthens patriotism, and right now, I'm seeing that in action. For _ZombieWatch_ , I'm Jamie Reynolds. Back to you, Herb."

"Thank you, Jamie, and God bless our troops. However, it would appear that not everybody supports the actions of Sergeant Dylan and his men. We have word from Capitol Hill that General John Hemlock is outraged at this act of defiance. What you're about to hear is live footage of General Hemlock addressing the press."

" _To be in the United States Army, to do battle with the Zombie Menace, that takes DISCIPLINE! It takes RESPECT for the principles that we uphold! In such a turbulent situation, disregarding Captain Vance's clear orders is and should be treated as an act of not only treason against the government, but of terrorism against the proud peoples of this nation! I urge Sergeant William Dylan to abandon this reckless pursuit, and I demand that the traitorous squads are court martialed!_ "

"As you can hear, General Hemlock has very strong opinions on the matter. Whether or not anything will be done as a result of this outburst remains to be seen, however, we have word that more representatives in Congress are beginning to be swayed toward Hemlock's side in the mandatory Zombrex chip implant debate. Hemlock has spent the day persuading members of the House to make it illegal for infected citizens to refuse Zombrex chips, which are tested and believed to be perfectly safe in preventing a disaster of this magnitude again. Several representatives have come forward and announced their support for what is currently known as the 'Zombie Prevention Act', which they claim will lead to lower costs for infected citizens who are struggling to afford Zombrex at current prices and a safer infrastructure in place to quell future outbreaks.

"As the situation in Haven City continues to unfold, we will keep you updated with new facts as they emerge. Until then, I'm Herb Frasier for _ZombieWatch_. Now, we here at Channel 6 Action News have prepared a small tribute to the memory of a brave reporter that we lost in the Fortune's End Incident. In honor of Rebecca Chang, we hope that you enjoy…"

* * *

"Over there," Kirk said, keeping his voice down and pointing up ahead to a street where piles of zombies were laying, gunned down from a safe distance by the mercenaries using one of the buildings up ahead as a headquarters. "We'll have to be much more careful moving in."

"Got it," Lindsey said, kicking away a lone zombie that snarled as it approached them. Suddenly, she jolted upright and looked behind her wildly. "Wait… do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"There's a rumble… like… a truck…" Lindsey nervously licked her dry lips, holding her breath to try to hear it more clearly, but it was gone. "Ah… never mind."

"Up there," Kirk said, gesturing upward. "See that fire escape? That's where I was last time."

"Going up onto a roof feels like we'd be trapping ourselves if they saw us," Lindsey said. "We should find a different vantage point. Maybe move through the alley?"

"How is that any better?"

"I don't know, I'm trying to make suggestions," Lindsey glowered, crossing her arms. "And besides, we could duck into a backdoor or something if they see us. I don't know, what were you thinking that we'd do? Charge in there and take on an entire team of mercenaries with assault rifles with a fire axe and a baseball bat?"

"Okay, okay…" Kirk took a deep breath. "So… we need a way to sneak in. Got it. Uh… what if we had disguises? Or just… wait."

"What is it?" Lindsey asked eagerly.

"You know Haven City pretty well, right?" Kirk said, looking back to the street where a Disguised Zombie Merc wandered into view, forcing him to grab Lindsey's sleeve and pull her away. "So you could take us somewhere and have us back pretty quickly?"

"Of course. Why, are we going somewhere else?"

Kirk grinned, "I think I know where we can get some disguises."

* * *

While Kirk and Lindsey were running through the streets to find the source of the Kings and discover the truth, the military team had finally managed to open the barricade enough for the convoy to move in. As the crowd outside the quarantine zone cheered them on, Sergeant Dylan smirked, climbing behind the wheel of his ZDC Control Truck. He would have to leave behind one of the squads to close the barricade behind them and open it again when they returned, but that still left plenty of willing soldiers to move in.

"Alright. All teams, let's move in for extraction," Sgt. Dylan called over the radio, leading the charge into Haven City. The rumble of trucks behind him was the only response he needed, and the enormous vehicles easily tore through every zombie in its path, cutting a path through the hordes filling the streets. As he moved, however, he had a sudden realization. "Anyone remember the fastest way to the Medical Center…?"

"Negative," one soldier replied. This sentiment was echoed by a few others. Dylan sighed, figuring that he could find his way somehow.

Just then, a lumbering white van swerved in front of the military convoy from a side street. On the side, Dylan could read "Haven City Police Department". The lights were flashing, though the siren remained off, and a hand on the passenger side reached out the window to wave to the sergeant.

"Stay with me, boys. Looks like we have our escort," Sergeant Dylan said, grinning widely.

In the police van, stocked full with weaponry taken from the armory, Detective Graham checked the rearview mirror to see if the military was following him around a turn. When they were sure that the convoy was following them on the fastest route to the safehouse, Officer Jansen in the passenger seat squealed in delight.

"They're here! They're finally moving into the city!" Jansen exclaimed.

"Stay calm, Jansen! And have the guns ready to clear out any thick hordes!" Graham said, but the excitement on his face was clear. "This thing wasn't meant to be smashing through bodies like this!"

"Yes, sir!" Jansen said happily as Graham made another turn. It wouldn't be long now until they arrived at the Medical Center. They just hoped that they weren't too late.

* * *

"This isn't going to work."

"Come on, Lindsey. This is better than my rooftop plan, isn't it?"

"I mean, there are so many ways that this could fail," Lindsey said, her voice muffled beneath the mask. "What if they have like a password? You know? A code or something. What if they obviously _know_ that we're not with them?"

"This is better than nothing," Kirk said, adjusting his grip on the gun as they crept down the alleyway toward the street. "And at least these guns give us a fighting chance."

"Not a very good one…" Lindsey muttered, but she followed after Kirk. The two had returned to the place after going back a few blocks to a certain shop where, on his way from the beach to the armory, Kirk had seen one of the Disguised Zombie Mercenaries getting overwhelmed and eaten alive by a horde of zombies. At the time, he had run past, eager to get back to Rose.

But now, that one encounter held the key to getting inside.

After going back to where Kirk had seen the man, the two were an odd mix of delighted and horrified to see that the Disguised Mercenary Kirk had seen had actually been with a unit that had tried to take refuge inside the shop, which was a simple little clothing store, but that hadn't lasted when the zombies broke in. Once all the bodies were down, that left four sets of uniforms to choose from.

Kirk and Lindsey had taken the least torn up ones and, after a bit of cleaning in the bathroom, now wore those suits as they headed through the alleyway toward the apartment building, both of them holding the fallen mercenaries' assault rifles. Even from within cover here, they could see up ahead that there were mercs scattered throughout the street, some of them watching the perimeter and others moving around performing other tasks like pulling up the restraints and leashes from the ground. Kirk wondered where the Kings attached to those had gone.

"Let's move in fast," Kirk said. "Walk like you have a purpose."

"They're gonna shoot us," Lindsey complained.

"No, no, listen," Kirk whispered as they drew near. "If you walk like you belong there, they won't question it. In fact, there's two of us. We just have to get into the apartment building, find the Zombrex, and get out. Just walk like you're one of them."

"Okay, I think I can do that."

"Follow me," Kirk said grimly, feeling his heart beating as he and Lindsey emerged from the alleyway and walked across the street. A few mercenaries glanced over at them, but to their relief, they went back to work instead of raising the alarm.

Lindsey could feel her palms sweating, and she swallowed hard while trying to keep her eyes on Kirk. She didn't want to look around, worried that they would see in her eyes that she wasn't one of them. Did they even recruit women? The jacket that she had taken from the men had enough padding that you couldn't really see her chest and her hair was tied up underneath the mask, but still, she could feel her knees shaking.

"So far, so good," Kirk breathed a sigh of relief once they reached the apartment building and pushed the door open. "Just have to keep it up."

The two stepped into the lobby, and were greeted with the sight of three men sitting in the lobby chairs around a coffee table playing cards. Their guns were resting against their seats, and their masks were off and lying on the floor. They were laughing when Kirk and Lindsey stepped in, and didn't seem to be paying them much attention.

"Come on, let's keep going," Lindsey whispered, heading across the lobby. Kirk trailed behind her, and they were halfway across before one of the men called to them.

"Hey! You guys know that you can take off your masks in here?" he smirked, absently shuffling through the cards in his hand.

Alarmed, Kirk and Lindsey turned to face them. Kirk fumbled to come up with a response, but to his surprise, he heard Lindsey clear her throat behind him.

"We're heading right back outside," she said in a deep, masculine voice with, weirdly enough, a slight Southern accent. Kirk would have laughed if the situation wasn't so dire, but instead, he nodded. "Uh… one of our guys got bit."

"Oh yeah? Do they need us out there?" the man asked.

"No. It's been dealt with," Kirk shook his head. "But we do need some Zombrex. Do you know where it is?"

"Uh… we have emergency Zombrex syringes in our jacket pockets," the man said uncertainly. "Why do you need to get into the supplies?"

 _Oh shit_ , Kirk's mind raced, but Lindsey cleared her throat again.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "But we were told to make sure that everyone had their emergency Zombrex, you know? We're just doing what they said."

"Yeah, they've got us doing a lot of tedious shit here," the man sighed, pointing down the hall. "Right down there. Just keep quiet, or Takahashi will bitch about you 'disturbing the Kings' or something."

 _Takahashi?_

"Thanks," Kirk nodded, and he and Lindsey exchanged a look under their masks as they headed down the hallway. Lindsey gripped her gun tightly, while Kirk's eyes swept over the doors lining the wall. So many apartments… were all of them taken over by these men? And what of the residents inside? He swallowed hard.

"There!" Lindsey whispered behind him, pointing ahead. Beside the stairs was a collection of storage crates and equipment. Resting on top of one of those crates was a small case a bit bigger than a briefcase labelled with the Phenotrans logo, and beneath that, _Zombrex_. Lindsey moved past Kirk to the case, clicking it open to find boxes of the cure were stacked up inside. "This is exactly what we need! There's enough here to make sure that the infected could go another week! Maybe two!"

"Great. All we have to do now is figure out how to get it out of here…" Kirk murmured.

"Did you not think about that part?"

"Not until now! I kind of thought that we'd just walk back the way we came and run once we were out of sight."

"Some of them are probably going to notice us leaving with their supplies!" Lindsey cried. "Dammit… do you think that we could make it to the roof? I mean, you said you escaped from up there, right?"

"I don't feel like doing _that_ again…" Kirk said thoughtfully. "But I did manage to find a fire escape that leads down to a side street that should be out of sight. We'd just have to take a little detour around them from there, but we'd get out safely."

"Well, I don't see any back doors around here, so fire escape it is," Lindsey said, heading toward the stairs. "Do you think there's one on the second floor or-?"

Lindsey stopped in her tracks at the sound of footsteps at the top of the stairs, and both of them stared up in surprise at the man appearing walking down toward them. He looked Japanese, his eyes narrowing as he caught sight of the two. His black hair was slicked back, and his neat black suit made him look more ready for a corporate boardroom meeting than a zombie outbreak.

He stopped halfway down, looking down at the two. When he spoke, his voice was clear of any discernible emotion, "May I ask what you're doing?"

"Sir, uh… we…" Kirk stammered, swallowing hard. The man gave off an overwhelming presence; he was just naturally intimidating, like how a kid skipping class would feel running into the principal. Lindsey instinctively backed up, and the man slowly began to approach, climbing down the stairs toward them. Lindsey fell beside Kirk, and the two stood staring up at the man. There was absolutely no question: this had to be the man in charge: Takahashi.

"Well? I believe you have an explanation for why you're taking a Zombrex caché without direct authorization?" Takahashi continued, standing a few stairs above them to position himself higher than them. When he spoke, he sounded disinterested, but at the same time, as though he alone controlled how this situation would go. Lindsey could feel herself sweating beneath her mask; this was a man that was more likely to outsmart them than they were to outsmart him. "And also why you aren't at your posts… or why your uniforms are stained with blood… human blood, it must be, because zombie blood fades quickly..." Takahashi's eyes narrowed, and he was drawing closer with each accusation. "But… I think that we all know that the simplest explanation is that… you don't belong here."

"S-Sir! There was an emergency outside and-" Lindsey began, her fake masculine voice slipping in desperation, but cut off completely as Takahashi held up his hand, staring the two down.

"Stop. I know that there was no emergency," Takahashi said. "If you truly are who you claim to be, answer me one simple question. What are your names?" Neither of the two spoke, finally at a loss, and Takahashi finally gave them a small smile. What was most disturbing about the smile was that they could see true glee at finding two survivors, "That's what I thought."

Before Kirk or Lindsey could react, Takahashi moved like lightning. His hand holding the briefcase soared up, and came down over Kirk's head with a loud _crack_. Kirk crumpled to the floor immediately while Lindsey let out a scream, and Takahashi was upon her in an instant, whirling around with the case and lashing out, catching her on her forehead between her eyes. Lindsey was thrown off her feet, and the two laid out on the floor, unconscious.

Takahashi stood over them, adjusting his tie, and straightening out his suit jacket. From down the hallway was the sound of shuffling, and then the mercenaries who were playing cards hurried to respond.

"Sir! What happened?!" one of the men gasped.

"Just dealing with some infiltrators," Takahashi said simply, continuing down the hall. "Grab them and follow me. We have time for one final experiment before the time comes to leave Haven City."


	15. The Facts

**15**

 **The Facts**

"Look out! _Look OUT!_ " Pierce shouted as the men guarding the Medical Center parking lot entrance hurried out of the way of a large white police van as it swerved through the barricade and came to a screeching halt in the middle of the safe area, jolting as it stopped. Behind them, a formation of military trucks stopped down the street, forming another makeshift barricade over their own.

Detective Graham threw the driver door open and frantically climbed out, nearly tripping as he ran to the back of the van. Tyler rushed over to greet him, holding his gun and looking relieved as he glanced over his shoulder at the military convoy.

"Man, is it time to evacuate?" he asked as Graham yanked the back doors open. Officer Jansen appeared from the other side of the van, sweat trickling down her face.

"Not yet. We have bigger problems," Jansen explained, gesturing to inside the van. "Quick, you and your men need to grab what you can!"

"I'm… I'm actually not in charge here," Tyler began, but Graham cut him off.

"It doesn't matter. Listen to me: there is a horde of zombies on its way here," the detective said in an urgent tone, reaching into the van.

"Oh shit. We were trying to thin out that horde… my friend got bitten in that-!" Tyler said, looking wildly at the others. " _You guys! The horde is coming!_ "

"I think that those soldiers should have some gear for that," Graham said, stepping aside and motioning for Tyler to look inside the van. "But just in case, you guys had better grab what you can."

"Wow…" Tyler said, awestruck as he glanced inside. The van was filled with riot gear including shields, police body armor, standard issue pistols, shotguns, and anything else necessary to take down a horde of zombies. It definitely wouldn't be enough on its own, but to the already dwindling supplies of the Medical Center, it was a godsend. Added to the military gear the soldiers had, and they definitely had a fighting chance against the horde. "Um… okay! Pierce, we need to prepare for that horde!"

"Couldn't agree more!" Pierce said, turning to address the guards he had. "We're going to work with the soldiers to set up a formation! I want some of you to grab riot shields and batons from the police van, that will be our first line of defense! You'll take out any of them that get too close for the gunners!"

"We can aim for the large groups if you can take out the stragglers!" Sergeant Dylan shouted from his control truck, pointing up at the large mounted gun on the top. "Stay behind the barricade, and we can do this!"

"You heard the man! Luis, I want you to go inside and get anyone willing to fight out here right now! Tell Dr. Winslow and the others that we're going to hold off the horde while they move everyone into the trucks for evacuation!" Pierce ordered. "Tyler, hand out the weapons! We're going to make our final stand right here and show these undead fuckers how strong we are in Haven City!"

" _Here they come!_ " one of the soldiers in a control truck shouted. From down the road coming directly toward the Medical Center was an ocean of zombies, like a tsunami was rampaging down the street toward them. The sounds of groaning and snarling sounded eerily like waves crashing against the shoreline.

"Christ. I've never seen so many in one place…" Sergeant Dylan took a moment to shiver before collecting himself. "Let's move people! It's time to kick some zombie ass!"

* * *

"Sir! We've arrived."

"Good. Grab our two infiltrators and drag them inside. Tie them back-to-back on a bench _securely_. I want no trouble after the injection. Move quickly, I've just received word that the military is moving in. We need to be gone as soon as possible."

Lindsey slowly came to her senses after being knocked out for the second time since the beginning of the outbreak. It wouldn't be unreasonable to think that she had a concussion; the world felt hazy, and she was dizzy as she slowly fought her way back to consciousness. The words of the Disguised Zombie Merc and Takahashi resonated thunderously in her head, but at the same time, felt so distant.

She opened her eyes slowly, squinting at first in the bright light, only to find herself in some sort of van. Keeping her eyes open enough to see but not outright revealing that she was awake, Lindsey glanced around. Around her were a few other mercenaries, but none seemed to be paying her much attention. Next to her was a familiar man, whom she quickly realized was Kirk. Still unconscious, it appeared.

"You heard him. Let's move," one of the mercenaries said as the van came to a stop, and they rose to their feet. Lindsey felt them grab her arms to drag her upright, and realized it was now or never. She brought her head back, as though she were still asleep and it just flopped, but suddenly forced it forward into a merc's nose. The man swore, dropping her and stumbling back. Lindsey gasped, trying to clear her head, and roughly grabbed Kirk's shoulder and shook him. Kirk stirred a bit, but Lindsey was pulled off of him by another merc.

"Kirk! Kirk! Wake up, they're gonna kill us!"

" _You're damn right I'm gonna kill you-!_ " the man said through watery eyes as he pulled up his assault rifle, but Takahashi cleared his throat.

"Not yet," he commanded. "They'll cease to be an annoyance soon enough."

The man sniffed, wiping his nose and checking for blood, but lowered his gun and begrudgingly followed orders, opening the van doors and watching as Lindsey was dragged out, kicking and screaming. Kirk was much easier to carry, as he looked to still be unconscious, and he was dragged by two mercs, one under each arm. His feet trailed in the sand underfoot as they emerged from the van at the beach, just in front of one of the large visitor buildings with a small café and changing rooms inside.

Takahashi still wore his suit, and with the briefcase, he looked even more jarring than before, walking through the sand with pristine black dress shoes. He walked into the visitor building, paying no mind to Lindsey swearing and threatening behind him, and gestured at a bench for them to be tied to.

The mercenaries followed his instructions, bringing the two over to a cold metal bench that was caked with sand, and worked to tie them back to back with a rope. Lindsey struggled while Kirk went limp, but as they held them in place, Lindsey could hear Kirk whispering in her ear.

" _Flex,_ " he said. " _The ropes won't be as tight when they tie them._ "

Lindsey wanted to ask him if he was okay, but managed to keep quiet while the mercenaries placed them on the bench and tied their wrists together. While the rope was being tied around them, Lindsey felt Kirk tense up and tried to do the same, clenching her hands into fists.

When they were done, the mercenaries took a step back and surrounded the two survivors. Takahashi slowly walked forward, waving his hand at the mercenaries, "I don't need all of you to remain here. Leave me with a few guards, and the rest of you can go make sure that the boat is clear of zombies."

The Disguised Zombie Mercs followed orders, leaving Takahashi alone with a group of four. Kirk was no longer pretending to be unconscious, and glared at Takahashi as he stood before them.

"My name is Kazuko Takahashi," the mastermind said simply. "Now… you might be wondering why I would tell you that. I believe that we have an obligation, no matter how hostile the circumstances might be, to be civil. Just because you see us as enemies does not mean that we cannot have a polite conversation, does it?" Kazuko smiled, as though hearing a joke that only he understood. "Society is founded on civility. Without it, we would be animals, constantly at war with the people different from us… sort of like those creatures wandering the streets right now."

"The ones that _you_ caused," Kirk interrupted. "Isn't that right?"

Takahashi shrugged, "I don't think that anybody really causes an outbreak. Think about it: we have infected citizens integrated into our society, people who could turn at any moment without their Zombrex. We live on top of a powderkeg that's just waiting for a short fuse to ignite. The explosion is inevitable. What follows, however, is people who choose to capitalize on the outbreak and those that do not."

"That's sick…" Lindsey murmured. "How can you do this? You're taking _advantage_ of all this death?! You're a disaster profiteer!"

"Now, now. Let's not allow this _civil_ discussion to become too heated," Takahashi said with another cold smile. "Emotions are the downfall of any polite discourse. Now, I believe that I've introduced myself, and you may remember that I asked your names back at the apartment building. Aren't you going to introduce yourselves?"

Kirk and Lindsey hesitated, neither of them wanting to be the first one to do so, until Lindsey finally gave in, "I'm Lindsey."

"Kirk."

Takahashi nodded, "Do you see? We're getting along so well now." He knelt beside the bench, placing his briefcase down and opening it. From inside, he pulled out a single syringe filled with the same ominous green liquid that he'd used to turn the zombies into Kings. "Now, I can see that you two are calm. I'd prefer if you could remain that way. Any unnecessary surges in your heart rate or blood pressure could have a negative impact on the process."

"Wait, what are you doing?!" Lindsey cried, twisting against the rope as Takahashi drew closer with the serum. "G-Get away!"

Kirk pulled against the rope at the sight of the needle, "You sick fuck, get away from us!"

"Shh," Takahashi said, lowering the needle toward Lindsey's arm first. "Your sacrifices will be noted. All progress is made at a cost."

Before Takahashi could inject her, a loud ringing noise echoed across the damp concrete building. He sighed, pulling the needle away from Lindsey and stepping back, pulling a satellite phone from his pocket. As he moved away from them, turning his back, Lindsey realized that she'd been holding her breath and let it out in one long whoosh, panting. Kirk could feel her trembling in the ropes.

"What is it, Marian?" Takahashi demanded, and the two got their first real emotion out of the man: irritation. There was a pause, and the two could hear, very faintly, a woman's voice. "Yes, I'm on my way to the extraction point right now. Did you get my data? ...hm. Excellent."

Lindsey could feel Kirk pulling at the ropes. True to his word, they felt loose around their wrists; flexing really had worked. The mercenaries were all watching them though, and those assault rifles made her nervous.

"We will be there shortly, I just want to run one final experiment on a pair of survivors… yes, survivors. They infiltrated the base, and no, before you ask, they aren't Frank West or Chuck Greene…" the man smirked.

Kirk eyed the mercenaries, and even under their zombie masks, they were clearly keeping a close eye on them. Still, he waited for the right moment. The men had taken their weapons, but it had been rushed. The checks weren't thorough. When they had donned their disguises, he had slipped Tyler's handgun under his jacket, and now he could feel the grip digging into his stomach.

"Don't say things like that. You and I both know that you won't leave me behind. After all, without me, you'd be entering the quarantine zone yourself, wouldn't you? ...very well. I'll see you soon, Marian." Takahashi lowered the phone and ended the call. Once he'd slipped it into his back pocket, he raised the syringe again and turned his attention back to Kirk and Lindsey, "Now then… where were we?"

Before Takahashi could do anything, a low snarl rang out from behind him. Takahashi turned to see three zombies emerging from the men's changing rooms, their arms outstretched to grab him. Takahashi was caught off-guard, and the syringe fell from his hand and clattered to the floor, shattering and spilling the serum inside, as he let out a surprised cry when the zombie latched its cold hands around his neck.

" _Sir!_ " the mercenaries rose their guns and turned to face the new threat. At once, Kirk began pulling at the ropes, and Lindsey recognized it as him signalling that it was time to move. Working together, Lindsey managed to slip one of her hands out of the rope, creating enough room for both of them to wriggle out. One mercenary furthest from the zombies noticed them first, but just as he opened his mouth under the mask to shout, Kirk was grabbing the gun from under his jacket and pointing it at him before pulling the trigger.

A hole appeared on the mask's forehead, and the man went silent, toppling to the floor. There was no time to come up with a plan, both of them only focused on getting to safety. By now, Takahashi had wrestled the zombie away from him and fell to his knees so that the mercenaries had a clear shot. The sound of gunfire was deafening in the cold concrete building, but when Takahashi cast a look over his shoulder to see the two captives, he was genuinely startled to see that the ropes were empty and Kirk and Lindsey were darting over the café counter and taking cover behind it.

"There they are!" Takahashi said urgently once the zombies had been dealt with, and the mercenaries opened fire in the direction of the café. One of them began moving toward their position, but Kirk popped up over the top of the counter and fired off a couple shots of his own.

"Kirk, look! An exit!" Lindsey exclaimed, pointing toward the back of the small work area to see an employee entrance squeezed between a table and a slushie machine. "Come on, we can make it!"

"Leave them behind! We need to go!" Takahashi yelled, hurrying toward the beach with the other mercenaries. The storm of gunfire let up, and Lindsey made a dash for the door, keeping her head down. She slammed into the bar, shoving it open, and tumbled outside. Kirk gripped his pistol tightly, and cast a glance back at Takahashi and his men before following after Lindsey and emerging on the beach as the heavy door closed behind them.

On one side of the visitor center was the parking lot, still full of cars that would likely never leave. On the other was a wide expanse of sand filled with abandoned parasols, beach chairs, towels, and the like as the shoreline stretched far down to a tall lighthouse, and just before that, a dock where the two could see a boat was moored, bobbing over the waves. The beach wasn't completely abandoned however; it looked like everyone who had came to enjoy a day in the sun was zombified, and a large crowd of walkers filled the area.

"Oh my God…" Kirk muttered, surveying the scene. "They planned this out. They knew what they were doing."

"So… so he _is_ the one behind the outbreak," Lindsey gasped. "But… why?! Just to experiment with the Kings?"

"He must have wanted to see what kind of damage that they could do…" Kirk mused. "And look at what happened. Those things destroyed Haven City in a day. Getting rid of the Zombrex supply throughout the city was them trying to guarantee that it would happen."

"There he is!" Lindsey cried, pointing to where Takahashi and the mercenaries were driving ATVs similar to the ones that the Medical Center used down the beach in the direction of the boat. As they flew past the zombies, a horde slowly began to form, each zombie trailing after the ATVs. "Shit, do we just let him get away?!"

"I don't know, Lindsey, I don't know…" Kirk bit his lip, trying to think, but he was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a vibration on his leg. He glanced down, pulling his phone from his pocket, and his eyes widened when he saw Rose's name. Immediately, he tapped the screen and put her on speaker. "Rose! Is that you? Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, Kirk, I'm fine! Thanks to you," Rose's cheerful voice rang out from the phone. "Listen, they told me that you and someone named Lindsey went out to look for more Zombrex?"

"Uh… yeah… we found out where it all went," Kirk said, glaring at Takahashi speeding away.

"You need to get back here now," Rose said. "Please. The military arrived."

"They did?!" Lindsey exclaimed. "Are they evacuating everyone?"

"Yeah, right now! They're loading people into the trucks right now, but they're fighting off a horde. They don't know how long they can stay," Rose sighed. "So… you need to hurry back. Please, we can finally get out of here and this nightmare can be over."

"But…" the ATVs were halfway to the dock. He couldn't even see Takahashi anymore. "We can't."

Lindsey cast him a surprised look, but then her expression hardened and she nodded in agreement.

"What… what do you mean you can't?" Rose sounded uneasy, and her voice went a bit higher. "I-I won't leave without you! Get back here!"

"I'm sorry, Rose. There's something that we have to do," Kirk swallowed, the hand holding the phone was trembling. "But… listen, when you get out of here, I'll find you. I promise, we will go back home together… o-okay? I… I p-promise…"

Rose was silent for a few moments, "...be safe. For me."

"I will," Kirk said, closing his eyes and focusing on steadying his resolve. His heart felt like it was shaking, and sweat trickled down his face. "Hey… I love you."

"I love you too," Rose said, her voice cracking on the last word. "I… I'll see you."

There was a _click_ as Rose hung up, and Kirk took a deep breath as he slid the phone back into his pocket. He began pulling off the mercenary jacket, and when she realized that she was wearing one as well, Lindsey pulled hers off, and the two dropped them in the sand, leaving Kirk in a gray t-shirt and Lindsey wearing a blue tank top.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Nope," Lindsey said with a sad smile. "But there's no time for that, is there?"

"I guess there isn't."

"Then… let's do this."

[ OVERTIME ]


	16. OVERTIME

OVERTIME

"This is Herb Fraiser reporting live for _ZombieWatch_ , America's number one source for zombie outbreak news. We've been tracking the incident in Haven City for the last few days, but it appears that the situation has reached its peak. As the sun begins to set both literally and metaphorically on the latest zombie disaster, our news choppers have finally received the go ahead to fly over the quarantine zone, and the footage they are capturing right now will shock you. Let's take a look.

"As you can see, it appears that the Medical Center safehouse is under siege by a horde of zombies, a 'horde' typically being defined as a gathering of zombies totaling over one hundred, but this one appears to be a storm of possibly thousands. Normally this would be bad news for anyone who isn't riding a Slicycle… er, but as you can see, it looks like the military unit arrived just in time. It appears that the survivors are working to evacuate before the zombies can successfully overrun them, but despite the ZDC weaponry being quite ill-equipped to handle walkers of that magnitude, it seems that they're nearly successful. Let's go to our resident zombie expert Wade Coopwood for his take on this. Wade?"

"Yeah, uh, the Haven City Medical Center clearly does not meet the already low standards of the National Safehouse Requirements, which I think really, uh, really calls into question whether those are even being enforced or not. But it looks like they've really got a good setup going on there anyway. The chain link fence meets one requirement, but it should be structurally reinforced, and here you can see that they've had to reinforce it themselves with wood and ambulances. Zombies cannot see a clear opening, all that they can see is, uh, survivors, so it is unlikely that they will walk around a chain link fence if they can see through it. But a fence isn't even the most important part, it's only the first line of defense. The windows on the building's first floor make it a poor choice for a safehouse, and many other official safehouses share this same issue because most of them are not designed with the intention of being zombie safehouses."

"What do you think of their method of evacuation, Wade?"

"Well, uh, I think that they're doing the best that they can under the pressure. Military procedure says to position larger vehicles as barricades, and Sergeant Dylan has done a great job of that. Uh, also, they're fighting the horde on multiple levels. It looks like the heavy gunnery is focused on taking out groups at mid range while men on the ground are fighting back the close ones. Still, all this noise is definitely only contributing to a larger horde. They need to move faster, or else they may find themselves overrun. In that case, I hope that they can manage to get back inside the Medical Center to await a helicopter extraction."

"You heard it here, folks. We're watching an astonishing stand by the survivors of Haven City to escape with their lives. Will they prove successful, or will this outbreak take a tragic turn? For _ZombieWatch_ , only on Channel 6 Action News, I'm Herb Fraiser."

* * *

The Channel 6 newscopter hung overhead, an unfeeling spectator to their current predicament. The survivors lined up like soldiers, men and women alike, taking out any zombies that came too close. Behind them, the ZDC Control Trucks fired off explosions of fire and blasts of ice. The bursts of gunfire were deafening, but anything was better than the groans of zombies stumbling closer before being shot to hell. Still, this line wouldn't last forever. They were growing tired, and the horde just kept coming. The zombies would never stop coming.

"Fuck… fuck…" Eric murmured to himself as he threw open the doors to the Medical Center, holding them open while an elderly couple hurried out of the building, heading toward the trucks. To safety. A soldier helped them inside, and closed the door, loudly announcing that another truck was full. That made three, but there were still two more trucks and a lot more people to move, most of whom were on the front lines against the zombies trying to buy enough time to make their escape.

"Ammo! Ammo! Anyone need more ammunition?" Officer Jansen moved through the line, waving guns and ammunition. One woman called to her, and Jansen hurried over to help her reload. They were getting low. Things weren't looking very good for the survivors.

Tyler stood with Pierce, firing off shot after shot. Each trigger pull was another walker down. The explosion of the barrel, the smell of gunpowder. At their feet, their riot shields were waiting for when the zombies got too close, and that time was nearly upon them.

Eric ran back into the Medical Center while Savannah emerged, leading Sara, Justin, and a few other wounded people to a new truck. As he went, he nearly ran into Dr. Winslow, who was carrying a case of supplies under each arm.

"I think… I think that's everyone!" the doctor panted. "We should do another sweep and then get out of here!"

"You got it!" Eric said, racing through the halls. "Hello?! Anyone there?!" As he called to anyone still in the building, if there even was anyone, he couldn't help but think about how strange it was. He had never run so much in his life before the outbreak, and for a moment, he thought that he, Savannah, Tyler, and Richard would somehow be back in the office tomorrow, laughing about it all.

But the office was gone. Their lives would never go back to how they were.

The rooms that the infected were in were empty. The doctors' offices were abandoned. There was nobody left. Eric slowed to a walk, raising his hands up to his mouth one last time, "We're leaving now! Is there anyone left?"

There was a low moan from the end of the hall. Eric's eyes widened at the sound of a possibly wounded survivor, and he jumped into a sprint, moving to the end of the hall just as somebody came around the corner. Eric opened his mouth in a scream as the zombie grabbed him, tackling him to the floor.

"Somebody! _Help!_ The zombies got in! They got in-!" he tried to yell, falling silent as the zombie snarled and then bit down.

* * *

"So how are we gonna catch up with them?" Kirk asked as the two hurried across the sandy beach, around the corner of the Haven City Beach Visitor Center. "I know that the whole running thing is kind of your specialty, but I figure with all of those zombies, it might not be the best plan. Especially since we don't know where our weapons are!"

"I know," Lindsey huffed, slowing to a stop and pointing behind the visitor center. "I figured that we saw them on ATVs, right?" Kirk followed her gaze to where three ATVs, marked on the side as 'Property of Haven City Beach Patrol', were sitting idly to the side of the visitor center. "It'd be a lot faster than running."

Kirk grinned, heading for the closest ATV, "Great idea."

"So what exactly is the plan once we catch up with them?" Lindsey asked, sliding into the passenger seat while Kirk got behind the wheel. "He still has, like, twelve mercenaries with him. Probably more waiting at the dock. Not to mention, he sorta kicked our asses back there."

"I don't know, but we'll figure something out," Kirk offered with a shrug, turning the key in the ignition and feeling the ATV rumble to life. He slammed his foot down on the pedal, and the cart took off with a jolt, turning easily over the sand and picking up speed as they followed after Takahashi down the beach. "Like back with those Hunter guys. All I know is that we have to stop this prick from getting away on that boat, and find out why he started all this."

"Money, probably," Lindsey suggested as the ATV careened past groups of zombies. "And how are we going to fight? You have a few more shots with that gun, but other than that, we're unarmed against a bunch of guys with assault rifles."

"I didn't say that it was a _perfect_ plan…" Kirk muttered.

"Come on, think," Lindsey squinted through the fading sunlight, trying to look as far ahead as she could. The beach up ahead turned into a form of boardwalk lined with stores that turned into a marina where normally many boats were probably moored, but most of the boats were gone, and Takahashi's bobbed in isolation over the waves. He had already gotten there, and his men were checking the fuel and preparing to depart. The boat wasn't exactly enormous, but it was certainly a bigger boat. Large enough for the men to be at sea for some time, which was probably their plan all along. Lindsey leaned back in her seat, "What's the first thing that comes to mind?"

"To _my_ mind? They're all bad ideas."

"Well, even a bad one is better than no idea at all!"

"Fair point," Kirk said as the ATV roared up onto the boardwalk, flying past the shops and zooming around zombies. One zombie turned around at the sound, opening his mouth in a groan. It was too late to turn to avoid him, leaving Kirk with only one option. The zombie disappeared beneath the ATV, and Lindsey screamed as they bumped over his body, leaving him lying dead behind them while the ATV kept going. "Um… I think I have an idea!"

"What is it?" Lindsey asked eagerly, the ATV shifting as it moved over the wooden boardwalk to the concrete marina. Up ahead, the mercenaries had formed a barricade around the dock with their ATVs to buy themselves enough time to fuel up the boat before the zombies could break through. Right now, there was a wall of zombies surrounding them, and Kirk kept his eyes locked forward, pressing the accelerator down to the floor.

"Hold on!" he shouted over the wind screaming in their ears.

"What? Wait, are you-?!" Lindsey shrieked, grabbing onto the dashboard. " _Aaaaaahh!_ "

" _Yaaaaaahhh!_ " Kirk said, half-screaming, half-growling as the ATV collided with the zombies mobbing the wall. The mercenaries scattered for cover as their ATV slammed through the zombies, swiftly knocking away the ones it didn't outright flatten, until it crashed into the other ATVs, throwing them forward. The velocity carried it forward, throwing a few mercenaries out of the way and running one over. The mercs were thrown into chaos, some of them trying to jump onto the boat and others standing to fight the zombies. More jumped over the side of the dock into the water, figuring that this operation was a lost cause and they needed to get out while they could.

Kirk twisted the steering wheel, trying to keep the ATV from going over the side, but the wheels turned too quickly. The ATV turned, still being carried forward, and turned over onto the passenger side beside the fueling station, sliding and hitting a merc who wasn't quick enough and knocking him over the side. Lindsey nearly tumbled out, hitting her face on the cold concrete as the ATV came to a stop. Kirk nearly fell onto her, but was stopped and held in midair by his seatbelt.

"Fuck!" one of the mercenaries shouted, opening fire at the zombies that were breaking through the newfound hole in their defenses. "I need some help over here!"

"Someone shoot them!" one mercenary yelled, raising his assault rifle at the ATV lying beside the fuel tanks, but two arms latched around his neck before he could open fire, and the man screamed as he was pulled back into the zombie's waiting jaws.

Inside the ATV, Lindsey pried her face off the ground, her cheek reddened, and winced, feeling like she'd taken a beating from the crash, but thankfully nothing felt broken. Shakily, she unlatched her seatbelt and tumbled out of the sideways seat, rolling onto her back and looking up at where Kirk was lying, still clutching the wheel.

"K-Kirk! Are you okay?!" she asked through ragged breaths.

With a groan, Kirk nodded, "I'm fine, Lindsey… that hurt though…"

"We have to go! We're sitting ducks right here!" Lindsey exclaimed, reaching up as Kirk struggled to untangle himself from the seatbelt, unlatching it for him as he gripped the side of the ATV. Once he was freed, Kirk climbed up, pausing when he caught sight of the chaos in front of him. The mercenaries were being swarmed by the zombies, and those that weren't taken down jumped off the edge of the dock into the water.

"Something tells me that we won't be any better out there…" Kirk said.

"Well, we need _some_ kind of plan!" Lindsey exclaimed. "Do you see a way past them?"

"Not unless you want to swim," Kirk muttered. Lindsey rolled her eyes, gripping the side of the ATV and pulling herself up to peer over the top. The zombies were swarming the dock now, the mercenaries' barricade completely failing as they were overpowered by a mob of the undead. Lindsey looked around, her eyes lingering on the boat, until finally they came to a stop on the fuel tanks beside them.

"Give me your gun."

"Huh?"

"Your gun," Lindsey insisted, reaching out her hand. "And then get back down."

"What are you planning?" Kirk asked, raising an eyebrow as he handed over his gun.

"Trust me," Lindsey said, taking a deep breath and aiming it at the fuel tanks. "And brace yourself."

"Wait… _LINDSEY, NO-!_ "

Lindsey exhaled, ducking down her head and pulling the trigger. At once, the bullet was launched into the oil tanks, and all it took was one spark, metal-on-metal, to ignite the fuel inside. A ball of fire rocketed out in every direction, throwing mercenaries and zombies alike into the water and off the marina. The ATV, caught right next to the blast, was propelled backwards and slid over the pavement back toward the barricade wall. The two survivors held on to the inside of the ATV, the sudden warmth from the fire making the pleasant beach air feel more like a furnace, and prayed that they didn't fall into the water. As the fire raged to life, the rope holding the boat to the dock snapped from the heat, and the boat drifted away from the marina.

But the cart came to a stop, roughly colliding with the other ATVs in the barricade at the end of the dock, and the two wasted no time in climbing out of the ATV and on top of the barricade, jumping over the zombies and coming up, victorious, on the other side.

"Shit… that was insane…" Kirk panted, feeling his heart still racing.

"But we made it," Lindsey smirked. "Doesn't look like they're going anywhere for awhile. Did we… did we win?"

A flash of movement out of the corners of their eyes answered that question, and both of them turned to see Kazuko Takahashi running down the marina, heading toward an oceanside amphitheater and moving between groups of zombies. His briefcase was firmly clenched in his hand, and they both knew that if they didn't catch him, he could hide somewhere downtown and make his escape another way with all of his information.

The two didn't have to exchange words as they broke into a run. It was time to end this.

* * *

"That's another truck full!" one of the soldiers said, closing the door. Rose watched from where she was sitting in the last truck. The line holding off the zombies was quickly falling apart now that they were running out of ammo, and the horde was advancing. They had to start getting into the trucks soon and then getting the hell out of Haven City.

"What are we waiting for?! Let's get moving!" Officer Jansen exclaimed.

Dr. Winslow pointed toward the front doors of the Medical Center, "We can't yet! Eric is still inside doing a final sweep!"

"Well, what's taking him so long?!"

"I'll go get him," Detective Graham said, hurrying toward the front doors in time to see a figure moving toward him. He opened the door, and cried out as a zombie grabbed his shoulders. " _FUCK!_ ZOMBIES!"

"Graham!" Jansen screamed, raising her gun as the zombie bit down into Graham's neck. The man let out a pained howl, pushing the zombie away and stumbling back, falling onto his ass on the ground. The zombie stood over him, but fell back as Jansen fired, sending a bullet through its head. She hurried to Graham's side as he lie dying on the ground, clutching his neck as a stream of blood pooled around the wound. "Oh my God, oh my God… come on, we need to get you some Zombrex-"

"That won't… that won't save me…" Graham said weakly, gurgling a bit on the blood in his mouth. He reached for her with his other hand, smiling reassuringly as he squeezed her arm. "Jansen… thank you… for doing… doing the right thing…"

"Graham…?" tears began to fall down Jansen's face as she looked down at the man she'd admired in his final moments.

"You helped… to save these people…" his body slumped a bit as the light seemed to fade from his eyes. "Thank… hn…" With a wheeze and a tear falling from his eye, Graham passed on. His eyes began to glow a sickly blue, but before he could fully reanimate as an undead monster, Jansen put a bullet in his forehead.

"They're in the Medical Center! We need to move!" Jansen hollered, wiping her eyes as she hurried back toward the trucks. Behind her, a group of zombies staggered out of the front doors, moving toward the trucks.

"Oh my God! It's Eric!" Savannah shrieked from inside one of the trucks, standing up from her seat and making a move for the open door once she caught sight of a zombified Eric inside the group. Rose stood up, grabbing her arm, and Sara helped to grab her other one, holding her back.

"Savannah, you can't go out there!" Rose cried. "Eric… he's gone!"

"I can't… we just _saw_ him…!" Savannah said, the fight leaving her body as Rose gently helped her sit back down.

"He'd want you to be safe," Rose said reassuringly. Savannah didn't say anything, burying her face in her hands.

The line holding back the horde was rapidly falling apart as the soldiers and Medical Center defenders hurried to the trucks. One of the last men standing was Pierce, the appointed leader of the team protecting the safehouse. He fought, keeping the zombies at bay long enough for the trucks to be filled, but it was a losing battle. He had to get back to evacuate, but if he did, there was a chance that they could still mob one of the trucks.

And then, ahead of him, moving through the horde like a shark through a swarm of piranhas, he could see it. One of the bigger zombies, a King, moving toward him, towering over the other zombies, Queens buzzing around the beehive forming around its head.

Pierce grit his teeth together, looking back to make sure that everyone else was evacuating, and without hesitation, he ran forward into the horde. The zombies reached to grab him, but Pierce moved quickly through the mob, pushing them out of his way until he was in front of the King. Pierce shoved his handgun into its face, firing off a round. The King fell back, roaring at him, and Pierce fired again. The King moved to grab him, even as the zombies around him began to swipe at him, and Pierce emptied the rest of his gun into the King's head.

At last, the King let out a foul smelling fluid in all directions like a water balloon popping. Pierce was thrown back by the explosion, landing hard on the ground as the acidic blood burned through his skin. The King fell down, the Queens swarming around dying with it and falling to the ground, and all of the surrounding zombies fell down. More were moving in, and Pierce didn't stand a chance as they mobbed him, but he'd made a big enough hole for the trucks to go.

"Pierce!" Dr. Winslow shouted, horrified as he watched his friend die, but Tyler grabbed Dr. Winslow and pulled him toward the final truck.

"Come on, doc! He did this for _us!_ " Tyler yelled, pushing Winslow inside before climbing in, closing the door. "Let's go, let's go!"

" _All units, move out!_ " Sgt. Dylan's voice sounded from over the radio, and the soldiers driving the trucks obediently followed orders, falling into line with everyone secured inside the trucks. A sigh of relief sounded from every survivor inside the trucks as Rose nervously gripped her phone, Sara laid her head on Justin's shoulder, and Savannah and Tyler sat together to mourn the two friends that they'd lost during the outbreak.

Nobody except for the dead was left behind at the Medical Center as the evacuation began, and Sergeant Dylan led the way out of Haven City.

* * *

The beachside amphitheater was a large, open backed dome structure overlooking the shining waters stretching over the horizon. To an audience sitting in the rows circling around the high stage, they would be able to see whoever was on the stage, and behind that, the ocean. It was a highly praised tourist attraction, and every weekend, the city hired local bands to perform shows.

But as the sun began to fall over the horizon, the only show this evening would be the finale to the Haven City incident.

Kazuko Takahashi slowed down, climbing down the stairs lining the rows and reaching the stage, where he tossed his briefcase over and pulled himself up. As Kirk Reid and Lindsey Connor appeared at the top of the stairs behind him, he turned to face them, his cold features contorted in a vicious sneer. He stepped forward, leering at them from under a spotlight.

"And to think… the weeks of surveillance and preparation… the millions we spent to cover our tracks before we even made any… nearly undone not by our old enemies, but by you. Two people who were nothing to us before this began…" Takahashi closed his eyes, "but I suppose that every outbreak has its heroes, doesn't it? We should have seen this coming. I should have expected…" Takahashi glared at the two as they walked down the stairs toward him, and he didn't realize it until he'd already moved back a few paces that he was unknowingly retreating. Swallowing hard, Takahashi stopped walking and stood in place, clutching his briefcase.

"It's over. There's no escape for you any more," Lindsey called to him. "The boat is gone, your men ran away… surrender so we can work on getting out of here."

"Surrender? How ridiculous…" Takahashi laughed as the two heard a growl behind them, and Kirk and Lindsey hurried down the rest of the stairs as the zombies began to catch up to them, pursuing them toward the stage. Takahashi backed away to the other end of the stage, standing beside the open back by the water while Kirk and Lindsey climbed up on the other side. "I am responsible for this operation, and that means that my mistakes are mine alone. I am willing to take accountability… but I admit that I take some satisfaction in knowing that you will never understand."

"What's that supposed to mean-?" Kirk asked as Takahashi opened his briefcase and hurled it out over the water. Papers, once neatly stacked inside, began to spill out, waving in the breeze as they made the slow journey down to be taken and dragged down beneath the waves.

"You have no proof. You will never know what happened here! No one will!" Takahashi exclaimed, turning to face the two. "Of course, not that I have any intention of allowing you to leave the city! When I came here, I was prepared to die for my mission!" He challenged them, smiling widely as he prepared to fight. "Can you say the same? Are you ready to lay down your lives for your ideals?!"

There was a pause, and then Kirk stepped forward, "No. But that's okay, because we're not going to die here!"

The zombies were at the stage, surrounding the three with their ravenous mouths waiting to be fed, their hands outstretched to grab anyone that was careless enough to fall too close.

Takahashi's face was full of life and excitement as he stared down Kirk and Lindsey, "So be it then. I can't wait to kill you, _and then throw you to the zombies so that I can kill you again!_ "

Takahashi straightened his tie and took a fighting stance. Lindsey bit her lip, feeling the tension of the moment, and she moved forward first. She swung her hand in a wide arc to hit him, but Takahashi easily ducked underneath it, twisting his body around into a side kick that threw Lindsey backwards. Kirk moved in, swinging his fists in a flurry of punches that forced Takahashi to move back to avoid them.

"Dammit!" Kirk cursed, sidestepping as Takahashi retaliated with a punch of his own, missing. Lindsey let out a battle cry as she lunged while Takahashi had his back turned to her, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding onto him from behind.

While Takahashi fumbled to get her off, Lindsey squeezed him tighter, "This is for my friends, you crazy fuck!"

Kirk took advantage of Takahashi's predicament to move forward, balling his hands into fists and punching Takahashi in the face, putting all the strength he could into slamming his fist into Takahashi's cheek, and then while Takahashi was reeling from the blow, he used his momentum to launch his other fist into Takahashi's other cheek.

"Ungh!" Takahashi cried out in pain, leaning forward and nearly falling, but he forced himself to leap backwards, landing on his back on top of Lindsey, who let out a hurt squeak as his full weight landed on her. Takahashi moved swiftly into a roll from there, flipping back onto his feet while Lindsey was holding her stomach on the ground at his feet. Kirk charged forward to keep up the onslaught of attacks, but Takahashi was ready for him. Kirk threw his fist forward to hit him, only for Takahashi to spin out of the way, grabbing his fist with one hand and with his other he brought his elbow back onto Kirk's throat. Kirk gasped, falling to his knees and clutching at his windpipe.

"Won't let you… get away…!" Lindsey said, mustering up the endurance to keep fighting, forcing herself to climb up to her feet.

"Come now. There's two of you against me, and even then you still don't stand a chance," Takahashi grinned. "Give up now, and I'll kill you quickly."

"Lindsey, no…!" Kirk wheezed, getting back up. "We have to… have to work together!" Kirk coughed, but pounced at Takahashi, reaching his arms under Takahashi's and bringing them up, holding Takahashi steady. Lindsey nodded, storming toward the deprived psychopath and sending a kick into his stomach. Takahashi doubled over, glaring at them while she brought her hand across his face in a wide arc.

"Ow!" Takahashi exclaimed, bringing his head forward and then slamming it back into Kirk's face.

"Gah!" Kirk let go of him, swearing as he held his nose, only for Takahashi to twirl around in a roundhouse kick that caught Kirk in the side of the head, knocking him to the ground.

"Kirk!" Lindsey exclaimed, trying to attack Takahashi, but he was still spinning after the kick, easily kneeling down and grabbing her leg, pulling it up and sending her falling onto her back. Takahashi was upon her in an instant, bringing his foot down on her stomach and kneeling down, looking the woman in the eyes.

"If you had just gone to the safehouse, you could have escaped," Takahashi smiled. "But both of you _had_ to look closer. You _had_ to come and find me. That was the moment that you sacrificed any mercy we granted you."

"Well, you know what they say about guys like you…" Lindsey said, managing a weak smile through the pain as she looked behind Takahashi. "Pride comes before the fall."

Suddenly, Takahashi felt two hands around his neck. His eyes widened at the sound of a growl, and he was quick to twist around and shove the zombie away from him. Behind the three of them, the zombies that were piling up around the amphitheater stage were beginning to climb toward the meat.

"Shit! Don't let him get away!" Kirk cried, pointing at Takahashi, who was hurrying toward the back of the amphitheater where a thin sidewalk and a safety guard separated them from the ocean waves churning below. Lindsey went after him, trying to grab onto him, but Takahashi managed to jump off the stage with Lindsey tripping after him. Before Takahashi could escape, however, he stopped when he saw a mob of zombies blocking both sides of the walk. When they caught sight of him, the zombies began to move in, growling and snapping their teeth.

Takahashi's surprise was all that Lindsey needed to catch him off-guard, grabbing onto his suit jacket from behind and not letting go. Takahashi fumbled to grab her hands, spinning around to try to pull her off as the zombies approached, but Lindsey held on.

"Let go, dammit! We'll _both_ be devoured!" Takahashi yelled.

"Good! I'll die if it means I bring you down with me!" Lindsey exclaimed, squeezing him tighter. "My friend got _shot_ because of you! I… I had to _kill_ a girl! It was all your fault!" She looked up at the stage, and she and Kirk made eye contact. He nodded at her, and in that moment, both of them were in perfect unity. Without warning, Lindsey shoved Takahashi forward, directly into the arms of a waiting zombie. As Takahashi reached up to try to push the zombie away, another one moved in, and Kirk ran forward over the stage.

" _And my girlfriend was bitten because of this outbreak, asshole!_ "

Takahashi caught a glimpse of him approaching out of the corner of his eye, and he looked over in horror in time to see Kirk hurl himself off the stage in a devastating kick, sending the bottom of his boot into Takahashi's nose.

Kazuko Takahashi's head was thrown back, and his arms were thrown out to regain his balance as he flipped head-over-heels over the railing, bringing the two zombies with him and a couple more that were reaching for him and toppled over into the water. A series of splashes shattered the waves as Takahashi disappeared under the surface, only to reappear gasping moments later with his suit drenched and his slick black hair ruined, sticking to his forehead. His tie slipped, sitting crookedly around his neck.

And then the zombies broke the surface around him, one on either side. Kirk and Lindsey watched from over the railing as Takahashi opened his mouth to scream, shaking his arms to throw the zombies off of him, but their cold, undead fingers were firmly grasping his suit. The zombies shoved their faces into his neck and shoulders, ripping away pieces of meat as Takahashi's screams turned into throaty gurgles before they abruptly stopped, and the two zombies dragged him down under the water. The worst part was that the blue water was crystal clear near the surface, so they could see the black outline of Takahashi's suit, still moving as though he were still fighting off the zombies, until he sank down deep enough to disappear into the murky depths. A cloud of red followed him down, quickly fading in the water, and a few bubbles popping on the surface was the last anyone would ever see of Kazuko Takahashi.

Kirk and Lindsey shakily climbed back up onto the stage, avoiding the zombies swiping at their feet, and stood there in shock at what they had just witnessed as the zombies surrounded them from almost every direction.

"Okay… okay…" Kirk gulped, trying to focus on getting away. There would be time to reflect later. "Lindsey, how do we get out of this?"

"I don't know… I just don't know…" Lindsey bit her lip. "We're surrounded, they already evacuated the Medical Center… we're on our own unless we can get all the way to the edge of the quarantine zone. Hopefully they let us out."

"I don't know if I can run that far…" Kirk said, clutching his chest.

Lindsey suddenly perked up, pointing back toward the marina, "What about that?" Kirk followed her gaze to see Takahashi's boat bumping against the edge of the dock. Although the rope had been severed, the waves pushed it back toward the shore enough that they could jump onto it. "Do you think you have it in you to run that far?"

"To run the final stretch? Always," Kirk grinned, looking for a path through the zombies to get there. "Try not to let them grab you. It'd suck to have made it this far and just die at the end."

"Heh. I'd worry more about _you_ than me," Lindsey snickered, getting ready to run.

"Are you ready?" Kirk asked.

"Let's do this," Lindsey nodded, taking off into a run as the two charged off the stage, pushing their way through the mob by force, and emerged on the other side in a full sprint back toward the marina. The boat bobbed over the surface, its sleek tinted windows reflecting the sunset like a beacon of light on the horizon. Kirk and Lindsey shoved zombies out of their way as they scrambled toward the boat, jumping over the side of the marina and grabbing on to the side of the boat, climbing up and over onto the deck.

From there, it was a short victory walk to the controls, and as the horde of zombies wandered around the marina in their wake, the boat's motor started up, and the two took off over the water into the sunset to finally escape Haven City.

* * *

In the aftermath of the Haven City Incident, the city was vacated of all survivors and the military finally moved in to eradicate the zombies from the area. This, however, would be a lengthy cleanup process. It would take months for all of Haven City to be habitable again. Many of those among the survivors opted to leave the area and go their own separate ways.

Kirk Reid and Rose Matthews returned together to Marwind Heights, where Kirk immediately began planning to ask her to marry him. Her new status as an infected required grief counselling for the couple, but they stayed together throughout it all.

Lindsey Connor found that she had no discernible path, but decided to keep moving forward to see what the future held, now filled with a newfound confidence that she hadn't realized she was capable of.

Sara, upon finding out that Justin had nowhere to go, offered to let him stay with her and her parents until they could figure something out. The two left Haven City together, and together they would soon find their own place to live.

Savannah and Tyler mourned the loss of their friends Eric and Richard. The two went their own separate ways, but promised to keep in touch.

Dr. Winslow was awarded for his role in the outbreak, providing shelter to many survivors by overseeing the Haven City safehouse. He was approached for government work, and accepted the position.

Officer Jansen went on to join the ZDC, believing that she could make more of a difference for people as an agent after seeing the horrors of a zombie outbreak firsthand.

Sergeant Dylan and the soldiers that accompanied him were swiftly arrested shortly after exiting the quarantine zone. With senior members of the military advocating their release, including Lieutenant Page, they were eventually released, but dishonorably discharged from the military for failure to follow orders. Some of them would find work either in the ZDC or in law enforcement.

Channel 6 Action News' _ZombieWatch_ program had a record number of viewers, which pushed them to continue coverage of the outbreak aftermath. However, it would unexpectedly be cancelled after they announced that they would be investigating the cause of the outbreak. A statement from the studio was released blaming Zombrex shortages before all coverage was dropped entirely.

After the magnitude of the Haven City outbreak and the revelation of the new zombie mutation known as "Kings", General Hemlock was able to convince Congress to enact a law to make Zombrex chipping mandatory. This was a controversial move for America's infected population, who protested and called it a violation of their freedoms. Congress refused to compromise, citing the growing state of Zombrex shortages as the deciding factor in their decision, and soon after began cracking down on illegals who refused Zombrex chips.

And finally, although Kirk and Lindsey tried to tell the world about Kazuko Takahashi and the operation in Haven City, they could never produce any proof to support their claims and were dismissed as fameseekers trying to capitalize on the media frenzy searching for a heroic Frank West type for the outbreak. Nobody would ever know that they were telling the truth, and nobody would ever know about Takahashi's connection to Phenotrans.

* * *

 _Ring. Ring._

 _Click._

"This is Paddock."

" _Congratulations, Senator. I can see that your popularity in the polls has skyrocketed. I can only see good things for the next election._ "

"Hemlock. I can't say that I wasn't expecting your call, but I'm still not sure what you want."

" _What I want? I only want to thank you. God knows the countless lives that you saved with your decision to quarantine Haven City. If those Kings had been allowed to get out, who knows how widespread the outbreak would have been._ "

"A decision that I made because of _your_ advice. You seem to have had some kind of inside information on this disaster. What's your connection to the outbreak, John?"

" _My connection? Sonya, I can't believe you would think that I'm capable of this. I only want to do what's best for America. For you. For your campaign. How would causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of American citizens benefit me in any way?_ "

"You have another agenda here, Hemlock. Don't think that I'm stupid enough not to see it. I just don't know what it is. Look… I want you to stay as far away from my campaign as possible."

" _Aren't you still running on a platform of mandatory Zombrex chipping?_ "

"Is that what this is all about?"

" _Of course not, but if you'll be involved in creating an infrastructure to integrate chipped citizens into our society, I imagine that as one of the movements biggest advocates, you and I will be working closely together._ "

"If I am elected president, I won't let you control me. You will never control the government."

" _Maybe not, but I have powerful friends who may make you an offer that you can't refuse. Good night, Sonya. I'll be seeing you soon._ "

 _Click._

The End

Author's Note:

Wow, this ended up being much longer than I thought it would be. Not just this chapter, which I believe is the longest in the story, but this whole story.

This Dead Rising fanfic was supposed to be a short thing I was doing for fun. I really love Dead Rising and I love the world that Dead Rising 2 specifically creates, a world where zombie outbreaks are normalized and they even have a treatment for a bite. That kind of world building excited me.

But anyway, this ended up being 120 pages. Can you believe that? 120. That's even longer than my novel. I was taking a break from it after finishing the first draft and opted to write this instead of going on to a second. Well, many months later, here I am. This is finally over.

Thank you to those who actually took the time to read a fanfiction based on a game series that has been cancelled. Special thanks goes to user TheHeadInCharge, whose reviews made me feel like I was accomplishing something. ^w^ Thanks so much!

But now I'm going to get back to work on that other story. I likely won't post on here again anytime soon, but it was fun while it lasted, and that's really what writing is all about. Having fun.


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